No trace of fisherman lost at sea off the coast of Belladrum

By Clifford Stanley

Six days after he was seen holding onto a small tank in eighteen feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean off the Coast of Belladrum West Coast Berbice (WCB) there has to date been no trace of forty-eight-year-old Maihaicony fisherman Lloyd John .

After six days of searching along the Coast fisherfolk in the area are of the view that he may not have survived the sinking of his fishing boat on Monday February 8th last.

“We haven’t given up the search and are still hoping to find him or even his remains,” a colleague said.
His relatives have said that they are beginning to lose hope as well but would be happy to locate his body and achieve a sense of finality about his fate.

His niece Tonika John told Village Voice : “It will be difficult for him to survive that long out there but we would like to receover his body for funeral; we wouldn’t want to him to go away like this without a proper burial; without a proper farewell.”

John and a colleague were fishing off the coast of Belladrum around 0630 hrs on Monday February 8th last when the boat sprang a leak, quickly filled up with water from the ocean and began sinking from the stern.
His co-worker Esmond Duke clung to the bow of the vessel but John was swept overboard even while he managed to grab a container to stay afloat.

His colleague Duke said he last saw John clinging to that container in the high waves and then he disappeared from view.

Duke was rescued by the crew of another fishing boat after a twelve hour ordeal of bobbing up and down in high swells while clinging for dear life to the unsubmerged part of the vessel.
He was transferred to a smaller boat and was taken to the Abary Sluice Outpost, where he reported the mishap.
The boat and the 40HP engine engine were later retrieved on Tuesday, February 9, but John a father of two remains missing.

Duke subsequently assisted Police with investigations into the mishap but has been released.(END)