Belize Coastguard still hopes to find missing Cuban sailors

All day today the Belize Coast guard scoured the waters near Caye Caulker in search of three Cuban salt traders. Eight were rescued but Captain Arturo Edrei Garcia, Nelson Perez Ardao and Alexis Gonzalez Cune have not been located since their vessel sunk near the reef just before midnight on Saturday. The vessel, Helga, is a Panamanian flagged vessel, leased by the Cubans who were heading from Mexico to Honduras with a cargo of salt. According to the Belize Coast Guard, even though the clock is ticking, they are still hopeful that the men are alive. News Five’s Delahnie Bain reports.

Delahnie Bain, Reporting

The cargo vessel, Helga, capsized and sank in rough waters late Saturday night a few miles east of Caye Caulker. Eight Cuban nationals were rescued and today the Belize Coast Guard and divers continue searching a thirty square mile area near the reef for the ship’s captain and two crew members, who are still missing.

Lt. Jr. Grade Gregory Soberanis, Operations Officer, Belize Coast Guard

Gregory Soberanis

“The commandant has instructed that we continue with the search efforts for two main reasons; one: the incident occurred within our internal waters close to two of our main islands and close to the reef along with the many mangrove islands in the surrounding areas. And two: because of all the debris that we found including life jackets, the possibility of survival still exists. So as a result the search efforts continue at this time.”

The Operations Officer of the Belize Coast Guard says he spoke to one of the rescued men on Monday and got details of their near death experience.

Lt. Jr. Grade Gregory Soberanis

“The individual told us that the weather conditions were terrible at the time, as we knew before. He said they were trying to reach on the western side of Turneffe to shield from the weather. The ship, as I had mentioned earlier, was taking on a lot of water. When they realized they were unable to reach Turneffe to shield from the weather, they tried to turn towards the mainland. Attempting to do that, and realizing they would not be able to make it to mainland because he said the boat or vessel leaned to one side and eventually began to turn over. It was at that point that they made the decision to abandon ship. So they had to actually jump off the ship and it was quite a horrifying experience as it seemed as though the ship was going to come on top of them. So they practically swam away and he mentioned to us that in about ten minutes time the ship went under, the ship sunk. So it was quite an ordeal for these men.”

But while in the waters, the men were separated and only eight of the eleven made it onto the life rafts.

Lt. Jr. Grade Gregory Soberanis

“The abandon ship procedures was that three of them would have radios; the captain, the second mate and the individual that we spoke to yesterday. He said he eventually lost his radio because the waves, sea conditions were extremely rough. He said upon entering the water, they called each other out by name to get accountability that all personnel were accounted for. But upon entering the life raft, they realized that the three individuals were not amongst them.”

Delahnie Bain for News Five.

When eight out of the original group of eleven Cuban nationals were rescued on Sunday morning, they were released to the Cuban ambassador, Manuel Rubido.

Channel 5

Coast Guard saves 8 from the blue: 3 missing!

The Belize Coast Guard, in conjunction with a few other search organizations, is at press time tonight on a massive manhunt for three Cubans who went missing after their vessel, Helga, capsized just two miles east of Caye Caulker around 11:30 Saturday night, March 19.

The Panama-flagged cargo vessel, which was loaded with salt bound for Mexico, from Honduras, and was carrying a crew of eleven, capsized after running into bad weather.

The three members of the crew who are still missing are Alexis Gonzalez Cune, Nelson Perez Ardao, and the captain Arturo Edrei Garcia, ages unknown. Eight others — Iraelio Mengana Garcia, 47; Armando Garnado Martinez, 47; Humberto Iglesias Hernandez, 49; Antonio Perez Sadez, 37; Alfredo Porta Martinez, 43; Jose Consta Nalia, 46; George Herrera Aldana, 38; and Joaquin Ruiz De Zarate Arribas, 39 — survived the overturning of the vessel.

According to Lieutenant Commanding Operations of the Belize National Coast Guard, Gregory Soberanis, his headquarters received a distress call from the captain of the ship, Garcia, seconds before the vessel sank.

The sinking of the vessel, which was 74 meters (242 feet) in length and 11 meters (36 feet) in width, took place within a few minutes.

At the time of the distress call, the captain, who had contacted the Belize Coast Guard on channel 16, had explained that a lot of water had accumulated in the vessel, causing it to lean on the side, and there was a high threat it would go under. It eventually did go under. The survivors told local authorities that the waves had become aggressive, causing huge amounts of water to enter the vessel.

Meteorologist for the National Meteorological Service, Frank Tench, told us that the weather at midnight for the general area on Sunday was characterized by wind that was blowing east by north at 7 knots, a temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and humidity of 81%.

At 4:55 p.m. on Sunday, the 8 Cubans arrived in Belize City on a water taxi and were greeted by Cuban Ambassador to Belize, Manuel Rubido, who also granted us an interview.

According to Rubido, at that time he did not have full details of what had transpired while the crewmen were on the seas. But he spoke of the search for the three missing members of the crew and expressed gratitude to “the Belizean authorities, [from] the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the head of the armed forces, who have all been doing their best to rescue the remaining members of the crew”.

Soberanis told us that the eight survivors had stayed afloat after losing their vessel via floating rafts. They were located by Belizean authorities about 1:10 a.m., just two hours after the overturning of the boat.

“The first four were found in good shape about 1½ miles east of Caye Caulker; the second set were a little shaken up; they seemed to be suffering from slight hyperthermia, and their raft was also getting water inside, so they were really relieved to see the Coast Guard,” Soberanis told us.

Soberanis explained to us that all such vessels are equipped with a device called the “epirb,” which sends out a signal to the satellites; the satellites then send a signal to American authorities, who then contacted them so that they could be given the exact location of the sinking ship.

According to Soberanis, the search involves the Belize Port Authority, with aerial coverage by the Belize Defense Force, along with assistance from other local boaters from Caye Caulker and San Pedro, who have all donated their time and effort to find the missing men.

We asked Soberanis whether he still has hopes of locating the three men alive, considering deteriorating weather conditions, and he remarked, “We are hoping that they are still alive; we are hoping for the best”.

The eight survivors are currently still in Belize City and have been allowed temporary stay in the country. The search continues for the three missing Cubans.

Amandala

No News On Missing Cubans

The Belize National Coast Guard continued their search today for three missing Cuban seamen, and at news time tonight there have been no positive developments in the search effort.

Coast Guard officials say there is still no trace of the men who went missing at sea on Sunday morning, when their ship, the Helga went down in rough waters beyond the reef.

The search ended at 6 P.M. today and will continue tomorrow. Except for a lot of debris from the 200 foot ship, there are no signs of life or the massive vessel itself.

We've gotten an email from the family of Captain Arturo Edreira Cuza, who is still missing. He is a father of two, and the family complains that the Cuban government did not allow the Captain's cousin to board the plane that is headed to Belize to return the surviving crew to Cuba. He wanted to come to Belize to assist in the search

As we've reported, eight of the crew from the Helga were saved and are being housed at the Cuban Embassy in Belize City. The men were transporting a cargo of salt from Mexico to Puerto Cortez, Honduras, a route they often travel.

Channel 7

HELGA capsizes - 8 rescued, 3 missing

Sometime around 11:10pm on Saturday, March 19th, 2011, the Belize National Coast Guard (BNCG) received a distress call from the vessel HELGA. According to reports from the BNCG, they received a message via channel 16, wherein the captain of the vessel indicated that they were experiencing difficulty, specifying their co-ordinates as 12-20 on the British Honduras Navigational map. These co-ordinates placed the vessel some three miles east of Caye Caulker village. Upon receiving the message, a vessel stationed on Ambergris Caye was dispatched by BNCG. Reports are that within an hour of the distress call, however, the 74 meter vessel had sunk. The HELGA was reportedly transporting a cargo of salt from Mexico en route to Honduras.

Within an hour of the search and rescue mission, at about 1:00 AM, four of the men onboard the vessel were found floating in an emergency inflatable raft (EIR) some two nautical miles from the southernmost point of the Caye Caulker Channel. Continued search and rescue efforts led to the rescue of four more men approximately 1½ nautical miles from the southernmost point of the Caye Caulker Channel sometime around 8:00 AM on Sunday. All eight survivors were transported to Caye Caulker Village where they received medical attention. All the survivors were found to be in good health. They were later accompanied by the Cuban Ambassador en route to Belize City.

Reports are that a total of 11 crew members were onboard the vessel, however as of press time, only eight were accounted for, namely: 47 year old Iraelio Mengana Garcia, 47 year old Armando Garnado Martinez, 37 year old Antonio Perez Sadez, 49 year old Humberto Iglesias Hernandez, 43 year old Alfredo Porta Martinez, 46 year old Jose Consta Nalia, 38 year old Jorge Herrera Aldana and 39 year old Joaquin Ruiz De Zarate Arribas. Still missing are Cuban Nationals Captain Arturo Edreira Cuza and crew members Nelson Perez Ardao and Alexis Gonzalez.

San Pedro Sun