The bodies of the remaining crew members of the MV Fair Chance are expected to be recovered on Sasturdy, after Thursday's recovery operation was cancelled.
However, the cancellation sparked disappointment among family members of the crew and the two survivors, one of whom says the vessel was not overloaded when it sank.
The MV Fair Chance has sunk again after being towed for two days from Venezuela. The vessel is now located in Chaguaramas.
The body of Quincy Baptiste has been recovered and those of Dexter Chance, Owen Prescott, Eric Calliste and Devon Celestine are still to be recovered.
The seven crew members of St Vincent and Grenadines and Grenada were en route to St Vincent to deliver supplies when rough seas caused the boat to overturn five nautical miles off Monos Island on April 2.
Survivors Darrol Small and Johnel Mc Intosh and family members of the missing crew members were in Chaguaramas on Friday for the recovery of the bodies. However, they were told that the recovery operations were cancelled.
Mc Intosh, who was the vessel’s engineer, told Guardian Media, “I am disgusted because from on Saturday to now, we were 20 miles off Trinidad and Tobago and we told the Coast Guard that the boat was floating high on the waters and we knew that these guys were alive but everything was snail pace.”
He added, “I am disappointed in the governments of St Vincent, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. They are not doing enough to recover these men’s bodies from the vessel under the water, we only recovered one and we need these men’s bodies to return to their families. Even our agent is not saying anything, we are very disappointed in this arrangement and now coming here today thinking that we can get our crewmates out we are told that operations are cancelled.”
Mc Intosh noted that the vessel was towed from Venezuela and it was floating.
“We hope that there would have been air pockets for the men. However, when the boat came to Chaguaramas the authorities took over and now the boat is now fully submerged, reducing all chances for the men to survive,” he said.
He also dispelled initial reports of the reason the vessel may have overturned.
“The vessel was not overloaded, it was a state of emergency where the cargo shifted due to bad weather and seas. The cargo shifted to one side and that is what made the boat shift and overturned. Our vessel was not overloaded, because when you saw the marker on the vessel it was high and that can tell how much load is on the vessel.”
The families of the men are currently exploring their options for an amicable outcome in this matter.
The two survivors are also expected to return to assist in recovering their crew.
Guardian Media understands that the recovery operations were cancelled because the private diving company hired by the insurance agent of the vessel could not source the required equipment to get the MV Fair Chance to float.
