The Royal Bahamas Police Force assisted in the search for the missing fishing boat. ROYAL BAHAMAS POLICE FORCE
A fishing boat from Dundas Town in Abaco went missing in mid-October 2023, prompting the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos and the U.S Coast Guard (USCG) to conduct a SAR operation in the surrounding sea, according to an RBDF news release.
The three-person crew had departed in a 26-foot vessel, thought by relatives to be headed for a popular fishing area near Scotland Cay, about 6 nautical miles offshore to the northeast.
While family and community members searched Scotland Cay and other neighboring areas, the RBDF’s Operations Command Center tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to contact the fishermen before deploying an observation plane to conduct a search.
The RBDF aircraft’s pilot located the boat, which had capsized, with two of the men sitting on the hull about 12.5 nautical miles from their intended location, according to the release.
The Bahamas Air and Sea Rescue Association, another participating agency, immediately proceeded to the location of the capsized vessel, successfully rescuing two of the three crew members and transporting them to local health clinics, the release stated. The third crew member had left the capsized vessel around 10 p.m. local time on October 12 to attempt to swim to shore.
A USCG aircraft searched for the swimmer, who had been wearing a life vest, but didn’t find him. RBDF aircraft and ships continued the search until the afternoon of October 15, 2023, when the RBDF search and rescue coordinator, Senior Cmdr. Milton Munroe, ordered an end to the SAR operation because of bad weather.