Local men saved from sinking canoe in North Sound
Police rescue two men off a sinking vessel, 5 May 2015
(CNS): The Joint Marine Unit saved the lives of two local men Tuesday, the RCIPS has revealed. A search and rescue operation took place yesterday night following a distress call received by 911 at 11:23pm indicating that a boat was taking on water off the north coast of Grand Cayman. An RCIPS spokesperson said the police helicopter was deployed and after searching for ten minutes spotted a Panga type canoe with two people on board . Police said that when the boat was found it was some distance from the location originally given —around half a mile outside the reef line off Rum Point Drive. The vessel had lost power and seemed to be dead in the water and sinking, with the stern completely submerged and the two occupants in the bow.
The Joint Marine Unit vessel, the Niven D, was guided onto scene by the police helicopter crew within 15 minutes. Two local men were rescued from the sinking boat and taken safely back to shore, police said in a release Wednesday afternoon, adding that the incident could easily have been worse for them, since the sea conditions were rough. “Fortunately, with the timely use of the Air Operations Unit and the Marine Unit, the incident was brought to a swift and safe conclusion.”
Police have not said how the men came to be in distress, when they had gone out to sea and under what circumstances. Nor was there any indication from the RCIPS whether or not the boat had any involvement in drug running.
Category: Local News, Police
Cayman men of the sea….. the tradition is dead
Did they just leave the boat to sink?
It’s sinking in deep water. What do you expect them to do, they are not a salvage company
It isn’t going to sink based on its construction and internal flotation. So it has been left to wallow as a semi-submerged hazard.
Transom plugs. So essential. So easily forgotten.
I thought I saw the DOE guys doing the rescue not the Police!
Since when DOE operate the boat in the photo? It is a Police boat clearly. Negative for negative sake? Let’s give them some credit
Which way is the current flowing at the moment? Good time to go beach combing!
The helicopter probably helped them bring up their packages too.