The Coast Guard has suspended the search for the six Vincentians who have been missing at sea since June 3.
Lieutenant Commander Deon Henry of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coast Guard told iWitness News on Monday that the search was suspended on Saturday, pending any actionable information.
The search was suspended after almost a week of surface and air searches for the missing speedboat, “Midnight Shadow”, and its occupants found nothing.
The vessel, a cigarette-type, dark blue (inside and out) speedboat outfitted with one 200-horsepower Yamaha outboard engine, went missing during a trip from the southern Grenadine island of Canouan to Mustique, in the northern Grenadines.
The boat was captained by Montgomery Hazel, 56, of Chauncey.
Also on board were Claudia Williams, 43, place of abode unknown; Ned Da Souza, 43, and his wife, 39-year-old Charmaine Da Souza, 39, of Richland Park, Sheron Simmons, 44, of Biabou, and Josianne John, age unknown, of Murray’s Village.
Mrs. Da Souza and Sheron Simmons are sisters.
All of the occupants of the vessels were based in Mustique, where they worked with the Mustique Company Ltd.
The boat and its occupants disappeared sometime after one of its occupants called someone in Mustique around 4:55 p.m. on June 3, saying that the vessel was taking in water.
The Coast Guard said last week that the person in Mustique was unable to get information about the location of the boat because of poor connectivity.
When the person in Mustique returned the call to the vessel, he heard the captain telling the occupants to put on their live jackets, the Coast Guard has said, citing reports.
The Coast Guard was not notified of the distress call until almost one hour later, at 5:52 p.m. that afternoon.
Neither the vessel nor its occupants have not been seen since.
The SVG Coast Guard was assisted in its search efforts by the Curacao-based Joint Response Co-ordination Centre (JRCC), which supplied an aircraft.