The Commissioner of Police of the Royal Anguilla Police Force Mr. Paul Morrison recently chaired a multi-agency debrief into the circumstances surrounding the loss of life of two persons in Anguilla on 16th December, 2015 who drowned after the motor vessel they were on capsized at sea.
The fishing boat the MV Esmeralda 2 owned and operated by Captain Edwin Carty with three crew members on board sank off Seal Island while returning from a fishing trip shortly after 5:00pm. Mr. Carty and one other member of the crew were rescued and the other two Sidney Carty and Arthur Greenidge remained unaccounted for at the end of the day. Carty’s body was recovered from the waters off Seal Island some two days after the incident occurred.
The findings from the debrief will now be considered along with recommendations to develop the search and rescue capabilities of Anguilla. It is clear that command, communication and co-ordination are areas for consideration.
The debrief, held at the conference room of the Disaster Management Conference Room, was attended by representatives from the Fisheries Department, Police Marine Department, Dutch Coast Guard, Local Fishermen Senior Officers of the RAPF and other stake holders in the industry.
The group had a further opportunity to sit with the Captain and crew of Royal Navy Ship, HMS Mersey during her recent visit to Anguilla to build on the debrief initial findings and the experience of the Royal Navy in search and rescue missions at sea.