JMU rescues three poorly equipped vessels
RCIPS vessel, the Niven D
(CNS): Officers on board the RCIPS Joint Marine Unit vessel, the Niven D, answered three separate distress calls on Sunday afternoon, from two wave runners and a boat. In each case the officers found that those aboard were poorly equipped and ill-prepared to be at sea. As weekend calls for help and rescue increase, the JMU is urging boaters and wave runner riders to make sure that their vessels are properly equipped with lights and other safety gear, and that communication devices are in working order.
“Responding to successive vessel-in-distress calls as we did last Sunday is becoming more common for the JMU, especially on weekends,” said Brad Ebanks, Acting Superintendent of Specialist Operations.
“Boat captains should ensure that they have flares on board and file float plans, at a minimum, and wave runner riders should always be equipped with communication devices should the vessel become disabled,” he added.
The Niven D rescues began at around 4pm Sunday while they were on patrol in the Rum Point area. They came upon a wave runner, with a woman and teenager on board, which had broken down near Booby Cay. It appeared that the wave runner was disabled due to battery problems. Fortunately, neither the woman nor the teen were hurt and the machine was towed and anchored to another craft at Rum Point.
Then at around 5:20pm, 911 dispatched the JMU boat to another wave runner in distress in the environmental zone in North Sound, also near Booby Cay. Officers located the man on board the runner about 10 minutes after the call and discovered that the wave runner had run out of fuel. The man had been drifting for a while but had alerted a relative, who called 911. The man was also unharmed and he was towed with the vessel to Duck Pond.
Just 20 minutes after that rescue, the unit was dispatched again via 911 to a 23ft boat, with seven people on board, which had stalled somewhere within the reef off Pappagallo. It was growing dark by the time the JMU officers began looking for the boat, which they learned had no flares on board.
The JMU located the vessel after what was described as “some effort” off Salt Water Creek in North Sound at around 6:30pm. The boat was towed to Morgan’s Harbour and secured onshore. All on board were safe and in good health.
Category: Local News
I really don’t get it. People go out in boats that may or may not be in the best condition , break down , don’t have proper safety equipment on-board then blame others. Government need to star to license thee vehicles just like car, age restriction as well. you can be too young or old to drive same with a boat . There you go another revenue source for CIG. Heller
Nice “bot” thumbs up. Nobody wants more enforcement for ANYTHING. Enforcement usually equates to ones rights/ privileges being stripped.
I’d rather let the breeze carry me back to shore than call these jokers.
I’m with you on that one. These police are jokers, and always have something negative to say in regards to anything that they need to do. It is your job! Stop complaining and take action! “Serve and Protect”!
Lucky you… when my boat sank April 10th 2015 @ 12:32am where were these guys as we suffered the entire night stuck at Rumpoint main channel clenching to the jagged reef rocks for life??? luckily i had a waterproof phone case and made the call just to hear “sorry we don’t have a boat to send out” the Lord was with us that night as we were in our own fish blood water… its only now after we lost so much life these guys actually stepped up to the plate!!!The following day the DOE came and took all my belongings from where my boat sank as we had to leave everything out there till the following day while we got rescued by a friend that night and manage to get a ride back out the following day at 8am… today I am still missing my license poll spear, dive mask, flash lights, fins, and my wallet… anyways I learned my lesson. Always have a friend to rescue if anything
You 10.17 are one of those negative people who like to slam the Marine Unit without stopping to think about why there cannot be full blown 24 x 7 search and rescue service. You cannot get a quart out of a pint bottle! The Marine Unit rescources have been steadily reduced for years now by the authorities, so calling them “jokers” and blaming the few remaining and overworked members for your distress is totally unwarranted. You should be blaming those in authority who have contributed to the reduction in rescources over the last few years. Note that the planned manpower for the new Coast Guard unit to be established is 40+ officers!! Compare that with existing Marine Unit manpower and you might not be so hard on them! You cannot beat hard facts my brother! It is a shame that you had to be so stressed, but, put the blame where it should really be. You too Mikey.
Mikey, all the people giving thumbs down probably have no experience with these googans.
They also helped me when my throttle broke and couldn’t drive my boat. Towed me back were great individuals at JMU keep up the great work!
Thank you JMU!!!! You saved me several weeks ago due to engine trouble on my 27″ boat. Had all needed safety gear but didn’t need any of it. We were headed for home when we lost power and you were passing near enough to flag down.
Great attitude by those men!! And don’t I always love to see a smiling face in uniform!
(Hot too! ;o)
Dear RCIPS and CNS:
It probably means nothing to most people but we remember fondly as Brackers the name of
NIVEN . DIXON
We remember when this boat was named for him. He gave his life in the line of duty and this was a nice way to keep him and his family in our thoughts and prayers.
We do not get much recognition in CNS as Brackers and wish we had our own page. We understand being a small community with nothing much happening. We never hear a peep about Little Cayman.
Our prayers to Niven’s dear family.
The Dixon family of the Brac is respected today and always in a quiet way.
Thank you Cayman News Service for the news that you do provide for us.
It’s only just begun. No boating licensing, registration or training is a recipe for disaster. Soon there will be a collision or sinking with many people on board and are CI Marine Police prepared to handle this type of incident? NO as CIG has no regulation in place to govern boating in Cayman
What the H are you on about? Go read a paper in the Bahamas and see what they are dealing with.
We are fortunate that our island is small enough to save people for the most part. Not talking about the late night ‘fishermen’..
No matter where/what/when you will have numbskulls on the water the world over! Lakes, rivers, ponds, seas, oceans etc…
Get over yourself.