Rescue ship captain recounts efforts to save lives after vessel sinks at sea

Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, and Martinique have all suspended the search for the remaining Cameroonians who were on board a French vessel named La Belle Michelle that sank off the coast of St Kitts on Tuesday, killing at least 15 African nationals.

The boat which sailed from Antigua and Barbuda was en route to St Thomas on a smuggling venture that went tragically wrong.

Thirty of the Cameroonians were trying to get to the USVI illegally paying what we understand is thousands of dollars for the arranged trip.

According to reports, at about 9:30 PM, the boat encountered engine problems. The boat was being captained by an Antigua and Barbudan who also had another accomplice from St Johns. In all, 32 people were on board.

At around 1:30 AM, the captain of a luxury yacht named Genevieve said he heard the screams of a woman in the water.

“While motor-sailing from Antigua to Saint Maarten, approximately 16nm NE of Conaree, St Kitts, I heard a faint noise that sounded like a woman’s scream. We immediately throttled back, and then both heard a clear audible scream”, he said.

The crew immediately positioned the vessel with torches or searchlights to try to locate the woman.

“Six minutes later we spotted some retro-reflective tape and discovered a man clinging on to part of a damaged life jacket. We used a small circular fender, attaching an additional buoyancy aid to aid grip, fastened to a rescue line to throw downwind at mid-ships. We were able to pull him to the stern, where two crew members hauled him onboard from the folding swim platform,” the captain said.

By the time the man was pulled out of the water and reached the cockpit, he was unconscious.

“We continued our search, knowing there was at least one more person, a woman, still in the water, but unable to ascertain if there were further persons at risk. Then we spotted a woman clinging to a white plastic barrel, approximately 400m downwind of the first casualty. She recovered in the same fashion, although it was much harder to get her out of the water:  It took three of us to haul her onboard, and had she slipped under the swim platform I have no doubt she would have been knocked unconscious. Once in the cockpit, she informed us that she had been traveling on a small boat that had left Antigua, bound for St Thomas (USVI), with approximately 32 people onboard. The vessel had broken down, taken on water, and capsized”, the captain of the rescue yacht explained.

Without knowing whether or not the vessel was still afloat, the captain and his crew decided to continue slowly downwind towards the brightest looms of St Kitts which would be visible from the water, assuming that if afloat it would have more windage than the casualties in the water.

Hours later the crew started spotting plastic drums floating in the water, and shortly afterward, they noticed a light coming in and out of sight, which later proved to be the light of a mobile phone being waved around.

“On approach, we discovered the upturned fishing skiff, “La Belle Michelle” with 15 persons straddled on the hull, approximately 1.1nm from the first casualty,” the captain added.

“The crew, four of them, then used the floating line and fender attached to a long Dyneema tail, which was floated downwind to them; then the line was tied around the leg of one of the outboards by one of the casualties, under instruction from our crew,” he continued. ““Our plan was for the casualties to run themselves along the rope one by one, and once they reached the starboard quarter of the vessel, to transfer to the rescue sling, with which we would pull them to the midships and haul them clear of the water”

He said those in the water were at first clearly reluctant to entrust themselves to the rope.

Only two of the people were wearing life jackets (who turned out to be the drivers) and most of them were unable to swim.

“We later discovered that they were wearing all the clothes they owned, often three pairs of jeans, and over six upper layers each, which obviously made swimming very challenging. Even though this made the casualties very heavy, this actually ended up proving helpful, as it gave us something to hold onto as we pulled them onboard,” he said.

Captain Auckland explained that after three or four persons had been successfully retrieved, they needed much less encouragement to come across, and the process worked very well providing they left the vessel one at a time, as holding the tow line was clearly very challenging as it was under load .

“It became apparent that towards the end, the casualties were becoming less and less physically able, and unfortunately the last casualty fell from the hull and was unable to make it along the line. He drowned,” the captain recounted. “We remained attached to the hull searching for the last individual.  Thereafter, I decided that marking the upturned hull with lights strapped to a lifejacket and cutting it loose was the best option, as I felt the situation was becoming hazardous. In hindsight, this was perhaps my biggest regret, as we had spare PLBs on board and should have affixed one, as this would have served as a helpful search marker for MV Britannia, who had just taken up the role of on-scene MRCC,” he added.

The events now entered a new phase and the crew of the luxury vessel became clearly aware that they had 16 migrants on board, 13 of whom were male, of which they knew nothing other than the fact that they were willing to risk their lives being smuggled across to St Thomas.

“So we locked down the exterior of the boat and placed the female members of crew up forward, with everyone in direct radio contact. All casualties had been given water, sugary drinks, food, and blankets, and were grouped together in the cockpit. The male crew members remained at the helm station, while I ran back and forth on the VOIP line with MRCC Fort du France, who requested that we remain at the scene until air support arrived. As there was evidently a security risk on board, at 03:42 AM we were given permission to depart the scene and headed directly to Basseterre in St Kitts, which was approximately 34nm away,” he revealed.

As of press time, the Cameroonians are still in St Kitts and Nevis as investigations are underway. They were among the hundreds who arrived in Antigua and Barbuda between November and February.

Reportedly, these men and women were led to believe that once they got to the twin-island nation, they would be given connecting flights to the United States of America but they were left stranded on an island they knew nothing about.

The Opposition United Progressive Party in Antigua has blamed the Gaston Browne administration for the tragedy.

However, the government has said that it should not be blamed, as these people went on that journey of their own volition.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has described the “entire situation” as “heartbreaking” and has said that he is prepared to bury those who have perished.