Progreso, Yucatàn, (May 19, 2021).- In the midst of their despair, relatives of three fishermen lost on the high seas went to the offices of the Mexican Navy, Yucalpetén Harbor Captain, and Fisheries of the City Council to beg those authorities to send boats, a small plane, and a helicopter to locate them, as they fear the worst.
The fishermen Ernesto Alfonso Osorio León, 57; José Armando Gamboa Argüelles, 40, and José Manuel Herrera Canché, skipper of the ship “Óscar Daniel”, 37 feet long, set sail from La Caleta fishing pier, on Tuesday, May 4th, at 11 am for a week-long trip and they must have returned on Tuesday the 11th.
There is no radio communication with them and until Tuesday, May 18th, local authorities had not yet begun to look for them.
On Saturday, May 15th, Marisela Collí Uc, Adriana del Socorro and Ernesto Osorio Collí, wife and children of Osorio León, and Marisela de la Cruz, wife of Gamboa Argüelles, asked the authorities to look for the “Óscar Daniel” ship.
On Monday, May 17, desperate, the relatives of the lost fishermen arrived at the base of the IX Naval Zone, in Yucalpetén, to beg that the Secretary of the Navy (Semar) send rescue boats and a helicopter to search for them.
Marisela Collí and Marisela de la Cruz reported that they first thought that their husbands did not have a good catch and that is why they decided to stay a few more days at sea.
They indicated that two days after “Óscar Daniel” set sail from Yucalpetén, communication was lost and they attributed it to the fact that they were far from the coast, because they headed for the Alacranes Reef, located 65 miles north of this port.
But when the week of travel ended without the ship returning, they began to wonder what could happen to them, and their despair increased on Friday the 14th.
So on Saturday, May 15th, together with Pierio Maldonado Zapata, owner of the ship, they went directly to the aforementioned offices to ask for help.
“Five days have passed since the day they had to return, it is a long time, something bad could have happened,” they were told in the IX Naval Zone.
Relatives said they were assured that help has already been ordered, but they did not see any movement and time is vital to find their relatives alive.
The wives indicated that the ship may be adrift, but they fear that it could have stalled and sunk due to the strong squall that hit the coast on the evening of Thursday, May 13th.
Desperate and unable to contain their tears, at the entrance to the IX Naval Zone they begged the authorities to send boats and helicopters to look for the three fishermen.
Piero Maldonado owner of the ship entered the naval base, gave an officer a letter asking for help in the search for the missing fishermen.
They also went to the Yucalpetén Harbor Master’s Office to request in writing that the three fishermen be found.
The Director of Fisheries of the City Council, Roger Gómez Ortegón, communicated by cell phone with the wives and assured them that on Saturday, May 15th, the search for the lost began, but the helicopter of the Ministry of Public Security (SSP) had to be requested by the director of the Municipal Police.
The relatives indicated that they were offered food aid packages, but what they want is for them to send ships and aircraft to look for the lost seamen.
