Berbice: Newly elected President of the Number 66 Fisherman’s Co-op, Pravinchandra Deodat, is appealing to the public for information that could lead to the capture of a gang of pirates who carried a string of raids on fishermen over the weekend.
He is also pleading with the local fishermen who were attacked not to retaliate by taking the law into own their hands since the attackers are said to be well-known Guyanese traversing the Guyana-Suriname border.
Deodat has indicated that some of the victims have been able to identify the pirates even though the men tied their faces during the attack. The attacks were staged in broad daylight. Pirates allegedly pounced on a vessel owned and captained by a member of the co-op around 13:00hrs on Saturday in the Atlantic Ocean.
The only name given for the owner was “Tall Boy”, and it was explained that the pirates took away the catch of the five-man crew and damaged the engine of their boat. The men were left to drift but managed to reach to shore in Suriname, and are currently in Copenaam stranded and awaiting help to return home.
The pirates armed with a rifle, also attacked a 53 foot fishing vessel in the Atlantic Ocean, sometime between 14:00hrs to 15:00hrs. The vessel is said to belong to a man called ‘Tony’ or ‘Big Head’ from the East Coast Demerara. He operates from the Meadow Bank Wharf.
According to Deodat, the pirates attacked the crew and took control of their vessel. He related that the six-member crew was bound and bags were placed over their heads. The victims were kept in this manner, all night by the pirates who used a hammer to beat and terrorise them. Around 08:00hrs on Sunday, the pirates eventually dumped the crew into a boat owned by Ramdharry called “Buck Boy”, a member of the Number 66 Co-op Society, after the hijackers also robbed them of their catch and damaged the engine of their boat.
Ramdharry, who was with his four-man crew, was commanded to take bags and pull them over their heads by the pirates. The captives from the first attack were tossed over to Ramdharry’s vessel and the men left with the vessel owned by “Tony”.
The boat was equipped with two 48 horse power Yamaha outboard engines, about 700 trouts valued at $900,000, fish glue estimated to value $300,000 and other equipment, all valued some $1.5 million.
If the boat is not recovered, the overall lost taking into account the seine, ice box, engines, fuel and other items would be several millions more.
Deodat informed TrakkerNews that the co-op learnt that the pirates continuing their rampage, also tackled a boat owned by the treasurer of the society, Pameshwar Jainarine called “Max”, which was in their path. The attackers proceeded to steal the fishermen’s catch and destroyed the engine of their boat, leaving it to drift.
The pirates then attempted to round up another five to six vessels working, but smart fishermen successfully fled to nearby Suriname and sought refuge after spotting suspicious activities from the stolen vessel.
Up to late Tuesday, Deodat noted that the police have been cooperating, but no arrests have been made, and he was worried that irate fishers may want to retaliate against the pirates who are “moon shining” as legitimate fisherfolk.
The stranded Ramdharry and Tony crew members drifted into the Number 66 Creek between 11:00hrs to12:00hrs on Monday after Jainarines’ crew had sailed in around 07:00hrs. A Corentyne man’s body was found floating in the Corentyne River early this year and his teenage crew member was also found dead. This incident was suspected to be an act of retaliation by fed up fishers as the dead man was alleged to have been a key player in the pirate attack.
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