Lost at sea for 36 days, 2 Jamaican fishermen found alive
anthony hibberd
There’s an emotional story of survival tonight involving two Jamaican fishermen who are both lucky to be alive after thirty-six days of being lost on high seas. The boat they were fishing in, Gentle Breeze, had been reported missing from Old Harbor Bay in Jamaica since March twenty-first and was not found until April twenty-fifth. The story of their ordeal is one of hope in the face of absolute despair when the vessel that thirty-six year old Anthony Hibberd and his twenty-five year old colleague Jason Noble were fishing in suffered engine failure after breaking free of a larger vessel it was attached to. The crew of five spent a month and five days adrift without food and water, was reduced to two castaways following the deaths of the boat’s captain and two crewmen. Anthony Hibberd recounted the harrowing experience with News Five.
Anthony Hibberd, Rescued Jamaican Fisherman
“The twenty-first when we ah come in—we ah come in from the twentieth and di first engine mash up from ten o’clock inna di night and di second one mash up ten o’clock di next morning, di twenty-second. no oil inna di engine dem and we tell di captain we need fi go back dah di boat but divine grace, him can’t fix dem. At di time dem ah work pan dem straight inna di night and di engine dem mash up. So we start drift from di twenty-second and three man die, left two of us by di ship. Thirty-six days we spend pan di sea. We feed off ah marass, anything we can eat, sea water cause we neva have any food. Three day alone we had food for.”
Jason Noble, Rescued Jamaican Fisherman
jason noble
“It’s like dead and alive you know, it was a hard suffering yoh know. Mi neva been through something like dat inna mi life. Mi neva expect something like dat. It was good and normal and everything was alright until di next engine mash up. Drift everyday yoh feel like yoh ah go dead and every time yoh wake up inna di morning yoh feel like yoh have to give thanks to God cause yoh survive and yoh still have life. Every day yoh get up and everything yoh ah si sea. ketch bird fi eat, go overboard like deep and mi si wah shark by di boat. Mi shoot fish fi survive, wi eat marrass. First time mi eva three man dead side ah, good friend mi know from ages ah fishing wid fi dem dead side ah mi. we have fi throw dem overboard.”
Isani Cayetano
“Have you had any form of communication with your family back home in Jamaica since being rescued and brought to Belize?”
Jason Noble
“No me noh get no communication from Belize but on di ship we get a lot of communication wid all ah mi family dem, a lot ah mi friend and other people cause pan di ship dem have a phone and dehn let we communicate wid di rest ah people dem. Mi family and everybody call pan di ship and we talk to everybody and get di status and whatever ah go on.”
Isani Cayetano
“Were you able to inform the family of the three dead men of their ordeal at sea?”
Jason Noble
“No, mi neva get di chance fi do dat cause me neva get no connection to none of them.”
The dead fishermen could not be identified by their names as they were only known to their peers by their aliases. They are Katoo, Clement and Feron.
It goes to show that human can endure so much more than we have been given credit for.
This experience will make these men nothing more than proud of their own ability to survive even in such conditions.
Why were they brought to Belize? Was the boat closer to Belize than Jamaica?
Approximately how far away was Gentle Breeze from Belize when it was found?
Public Defendah I believe that thay were closer to Belize as they were found in territorial waters 50 miles northeast of Belize. Jamaica is +/-790 miles from Belize which means they were about +/-740 miles from where they originated. For humanitatian reasons why worry why they were brought to Belize even if they were half way from Jamaica the Caribe found them adrift and it was heading for Belize why make an about turn. They were rescued and we are happy to know that two of them survived to tell the familes of the deceased what happen so that they will have closure.
Janet,
I couldn’t have said it better myself. This is truly a miraculous story about these 2 Jamaican men. I have seen this type of situation before when I was in the Navy. We rescued 46 Vietnamese onboard a little old dilapidated boat. They started out with 105 people and they were lost at sea for 29 days. One of the female was pregnant at the time, and one died after we rescued them. We took them to Korea where they were given all the medical treatment that they needed.
give them belizean citizenship. do they want to go back? Mexico doesn’t want them that’s why they borught them here.
No Belizean can’t go to Jamaica and get Jamaican Citizenship automatically.As a result i disagree with your request.
idid,
idid, if u dont have something sensible to say then then keep ur retard comments to ur self. we as belizeans should be proud to help two of our fellow carribbean brothers. stop and think we have belizean bothers who are out there fishing too. they may need help some day and we would all like, what ever country to take them in and help them get home.
The people dem want go home , they no want stay a Belize wey people a dead like water run out a pipe.
I AM A BELIZEAN AMERICAN WHO LIVES IN THE UNITED STATES,,BUT I STAYED CONNECTED TO MY COUNTRY BELIZE THROUGH THE INTERNET.IT WAS REALLY HEART BROKEN WHEN I READ ABOUT THE MIRACULOUS STORY ABOUT THE TWO MEN WHO WERE FOUND PERISH AT HIGH SEAS FOR THIRTY SIX DAYS.THANKS TO THE CAPTAIN AND CREW OF HYDE SHIPPING VESSEL (CARIBE) FOR RESCUING ANTHONY AND JASON FROM DESPAIR.MAY THE LORD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU ON A JOB WELL DONE. THE GOVERMENT OF BELIZE WILL TAKE APPROPRIATE STEPS ,TO ENSURE THE SAFETY AND WELL BEING OF ANTHONY AND JASON,BEFORE RETURNING THEM TO THEIR NATIVE COUNTRY.
Those men are being treated kindly by the Belizeans, they were lost at sea, and fortunately survived their ordeal.
They are not asking for Belizean passports to live in Belize, I am sure that all they want to do is go home to their love ones after this unfortunately incident happened.
I would be very happy if something would happened to a Belizean while in Jamaica and the Jamaicans shows the same kindness to them.
The Mexicans don’t want them, just like the Americans don’t want the Mexicans.
God bless the Captain and crew of the Carib Navigator, had it not been for their quick thinking, empathy and geniune compassion these fishermen might not have been alive today. Whether or not they were Jamaican fishermen, users of the sea owe it to each other to respond to aid each other in times of crisis. These fishermen were heros, having found ways of staying alive despite the challenges they endured. Belize welcomed these fishermen with open arms and as a fellow CARICUM partner treated these fishermen with humanity, dignity and respect. We should be very proud of their response to this incident. Despite what was said about Mexico, I think the Captain made the correct decision to take them to Belize. Belize is a very close friend of Jamaica and our ties with Belize can be traced many years back. In Belize you can be sure that they will receive the appropriate medical care without having to go through a bureaucracy. Already their families have been notified and they themselves have spoken with their love ones. A sad tale, but a wonderful story of survival for the two surviving fishermen and a remarkable account of bravery and humanity by Captain Steven Spence and Crew of the Carib Navigator.
I believe that this case is not cut and dry i think something “fishy” is going. These two do not look like they have suffered from dehydration and to me look healthy. What exactly happend to the other members of crew?. If these two survived looking so well then why did the other crew not survive?. Well done to the crew that rescued them but lets make sure that they are interrogated by the police so that the TRUTH comes out. Dont let them leave yet. Theres more to this story……………….