16 rescued, 7 still missing in Saltpond fishing vessel capsize

Sixteen people out of the twenty-five who were onboard the Chinese fishing vessel that sank in Saltpond in the Central Region over the weekend have been rescued alive.

Twelve out of the sixteen are Ghanaians while the remaining four are Chinese on board the MV Comforta II Fishing vessel.

The Public Relations Officer for the 2^nd Garrisons, Enoch Tetteh Opata, who made the revelation on 3FM’s Sunrise on Monday, explained that the rescue team is currently in search of seven others.

“We are in search of seven people made up of Chinese and six Ghanaians. There were 25 people on board, 19 Ghanaians and 6 Chinses. 16 have been rescued, 12 are Ghanaians and 4 Chinese”, the PRO told Sunrise host, Alfred Ocansey on Monday.

He explained that seven out of the eight crew members were Ghanaians and Chinese.

“The crew were 8, 7 Ghanaians and one Chinese and the deceased body was also retrieved”.

Mr. Opata said “the vessel was spotted around the wee hours of Saturday morning”.

“They were in the Soltpond area. 46 nautical miles… south of Saltpond. The MV Comforta II was fishing and they had a bumper harvest”.

He explained that “there were some difficulties because of the wind and the bumper harvest so they alerted the captain but he insisted to sail and this caused the capsized”.

“The bumper harvest led to the capsized”.

Investigations

Mr. Opata noted that investigations have begun on whether the Chinese vessel was eligible to fish in the Ghanaians territory.

“Investigations are ongoing to ascertain whether they are licensed to fish in Ghanaians waters and that is one of the things we will be putting out soon”.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana