A group of 9 fishermen, from Tema New Town, have been rescued by the safety team of the China Harbour Engineering Company. The fishermen were rescued, after their boat was capsized by a heavy storm that struck Tema in the early hours of Monday, 8th July 2019.
According to Cheng Chong, a Safety Engineer of CHEC, the company constructing the new port expansion on behalf of the Meridian Port Services, an alarm was raised by his team after they identified strife at the port’s anchorage. He said a tugboat was deployed to rescue the struggling fishermen to bring them to safety.
The Chinese Engineer said, first aid was given to the rescued fishermen, who he confirmed are in a stable health condition and then handed them over to the GPHA Security.
“We rescued the 9 people, took them in our ambulance, administered first aid and reported to GPHA like our client MPS asked us to,” he revealed.
The three fishing boats which carried the fishermen were unable to be salvaged.
The fishermen, recounting their experience, said they have lost a lot of resources due to the storm, and fear they would suffer economic hardship as a result, so they appealed to government for assistance.
“We plead with the President, Nana Akufo Addo to come to our aid. We have no hope as it stands but to rely on help.”
The fishermen admitted that their activities to embark on fishing in low and high waters are very risky and decided to be more cautious in their approach, by using safety equipment and getting familiar with the weather forecast.
“We have learnt to make good use of the radio to be abreast with weather forecast for our own safety,” one of the rescued fishermen said.
The GPHA Security Officer in Charge of Intelligence, Sheikh Salifu Barry urged the Ministry of Fisheries to intensify education for fishermen to procure more durable and safer boats.
“These fishermen need education because most of them go to sea without life jackets if they were not to be saved by this boat, what would have happened? I think the fisheries ministry must be up and doing,” he advised.
Source: EOP
