GENEVIEVE

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Genevieve rescued 16 migrants after fishing vessel capsized off St Kitts

The 'Genevieve' has rescued 16 people in a major search and rescue operation off the coast of St Kitts and Nevis after a fishing skiff carrying 32 occupants overturned on March 27, 2023. At 11.30 p.m. on 27 March, the 'Genevieve' with six crew members on board was motoring from Antigua to St Maarten when the lookout heard a faint noise that sounded like a woman's scream. After realising someone was in the water, the vessel sent out a mayday call and positioned four crew members on deck with torches and searchlights to try to locate the individual. The sea state was moderate with two-metre waves and 20 knots of breeze. After six minutes of searching, the crew spotted some retro-reflective tape and discovered a man in the water clinging to a damaged life jacket. Using a small circular fender attached to an additional buoyancy aid and fastened to a rescue line, two crewmembers were able to pull the man to the stern of the vessel and haul him onto the folding swim platform. He was retrieved at 11.39pm and fell unconscious in the cockpit. They continued the 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. At 11.57 p.m., the crew then spotted a woman clinging to a white plastic barrel, approximately 400 metres downwind of the first casualty. She was recovered in the same fashion and, once rescued, informed the crew that she had been travelling on a small boat which had left Antigua, bound for St Thomas (USVI). The vessel had broken down, taken on water and capsized. The captain then discharged two red parachute flares to alert any passing ships to the incident.He decided to continue slowly downwind towards the brightest looms of St Kitts which would be visible from the water, assuming that if the boat was still afloat, it would have more windage than the casualties in the water. At 00:28, the crew spotted a number of plastic drums floating in the water, and shortly afterwards noticed a light coming in and out of sight, which later proved to be the light of a mobile phone being waved around. The 'Genevieve' eventually came across the upturned fishing skiff 'La Belle Michelle II' with 15 persons straddling the hull approximately 1.1 nautical miles from the first casualty. Only two were wearing life jackets and the rest were unable to swim. A floating line and a fender were floated downwind to the upturned vessel and the crew instructed one of its occupants to tie the end to the outboard engine. The crew then used a rescue sling and an additional safety line to bring each of the casualties aboard. Each casualty was required to run themselves along the rope one by one, and once they reached the starboard quarter of the vessel, transfer to the rescue sling where the crew would pull them to the midships and haul them clear of the water. 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' as it was under load was clearly very challenging," said Auckland. Despite efforts from the crew to recover all the occupants of the vessel, the last casualty fell from the hull and was unable to make it along the line. The 'Genevieve' remained attached to the hull until 2 a.m. before calling off the search. The yacht was asked to remain at the scene until air support arrived to continue the recovery mission, before being escorted by the coastguard to Basseterre, St Kitts at around 3.42 a.m.. On arrival, the casualties were transferred to the Coastguard base. Most of the occupants of the 'La Belle Michelle II' were believed to be Cameroonian refugees but have not formally been identified. Of the 16 who were pulled from the water and taken to St Kitts, two have been identified as Antiguan and Barbudan nationals and 14 from "unidentified countries" in Africa. The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force later confirmed that an additional three bodies were subsequently recovered from the water. On April 1, the MRCC suspended its search for the missing occupants of the 'La Belle Michelle II'. The government will launch an investigation into the incident and has offered refuge in Antigua and Barbuda to the survivors.