Fishermen stranded at sea in Progreso after an engine failure

Just six days before the “octopus season” began, an incident occurred at sea where two crew members of a coastal vessel from Progreso were at risk of losing their lives. They were rescued by personnel from the Secretariat of the Navy, specifically from the Thirteenth Naval Zone.

The organization reported that at the beginning of this week, their personnel on coast guard duty provided the necessary support when the boat, only a couple of hours into its journey, started experiencing engine problems.

The area affected was the motor, which completely stopped working when the vessel was navigating approximately eight nautical miles (16 kilometers) northeast of Progreso, even before they had begun fishing for scaled species.

This caused the crew to be adrift, and panic quickly set in for the two fishermen. They wasted no time and used the remaining battery in their cell phones to make distress calls.

One of these calls reached the control room of the Thirteenth Naval Zone based in Yucalpetén, leading to alerts being issued to the units that were patrolling the area as part of the holiday operation.

One of the naval patrol boats involved in maritime surveillance eventually spotted the smaller vessel, a “boa” type, with the name “Chinita,” which did not have a registration. As soon as the two crew members onboard noticed the naval ship approaching, they frantically signaled for help.

Upon reaching the distressed vessel, the crew members stated that they had lost propulsion an hour before being spotted. The navy sailors on the ship proceeded to provide assistance. Both fishermen were in stable health, and medical intervention from the Secretariat of the Navy was not required.

Specialized technicians for these types of boats managed to get the outboard motor working again after a couple of hours of work. This allowed the vessel to return safely to port and prepare to set sail again under better conditions with their work equipment.

TYT Newsroom