The Public Relations Officer of the 2-Garrison, Enoch Tetteh Opata, says the Western Naval Command has ended its rescue mission for eight sailors.
The persons have been missing since Friday, April 6th, after their fishing vessel, comforter-2, sunk offshore 46-nautical miles South of Saltpond.
The Command said it has so far rescued 16 people and recovered one dead body out of the 25 persons on the vessel.
It says it had to end the search due to high tide and visibility challenges.
“We are done with it, it has ended and as I speak with you, we’ve not heard anything about the eight people whether they’ve been washed ashore or not. However, we have our ears on the ground to know wherever they will be washed ashore.
“That is what we are monitoring. Night vision probability is a challenge now and so even in the daytime we are not able to get to the bottom or see through the sea, and it means that even in the evening it’s not worth it. You know, the tides are high due to weather conditions and all that, so it has become a challenge, so we need to halt it and monitor wherever they will be washed ashore, but as for the location we can’t tell,” he said on Accra-based Citi FM.
When asked if the Navy is facing logistical constraints with the search, he explained that logistics is not a concern now for the Navy.
“It has nothing to do with logistics. Like I said when the visibility is not favouring you, no matter how equipped you are, it has to do with the high tides. So we are still monitoring though because there are some portions you can’t let a diver get in due to the high tides, so we can’t risk that.
“We have to just withdraw and then monitor. We still have our ears on the ground and wherever they will be washed ashore, we will take note of that and then update you”, he added.
Enock Opata gave an account regarding what the Command gathered to be the possible cause of the vessel sinking.
“What happened was that they had a bumper harvest, so when they were pulling the net it was difficult and that made the vessel lift on one side, and so they prompted the Captain about that, but he insisted they continue.
“So while doing that, that side further lifted, and that caused the vessel to capsize. We have also established that high tides and strong winds also were a factor“, he explained.
According to the 2-Garrison Public Relations Officer, 25 crew members were on board the vessel, and out of that, 19 were Ghanaians and six Chinese nationals.
“We were able to rescue 16 out of that number and of that 16, twelve were Ghanaians and 4 Chinese. Out of that, one died, and the one who died was the Chinese Captain of the vessel whiles those unaccounted for yet are eight, with seven of them being Ghanaians and one Chinese” he said.