The sister of a Canouan sea captain is raising the alarm after her brother and his two-man crew have not arrived in St. Maarten, almost a week after setting sail from the southern Grenadine island and three days later than scheduled.
Cindy Farrell told iWitness News, on Tuesday, that her brother, Grafton Farrell, 51, and his crew set sail from Canouan on Wednesday and were scheduled to arrive in St. Maarten between Friday night and Saturday morning.
Farrell, along with fellow Vincentian, Raymond R. Snagg, 51, of Mesopotamia and Grenadian, Anthony St. Hilliare, 60, were aboard MV Minerva, a 46-foot-long wooden vessel registered in Grenada.
She said that she and her family are yet to hear from any member of the vessel’s crew.
Farrell told iWitness News that her brother went to St. Maarten to pick up cargo to bring back to St. Vincent, a trip he makes regularly.
“I am very, very frustrated. I am not in my right state of mind. My family is devastated. We are frustrated but still trying to think positive,” she told iWitness News.
Farrell said that her brother would usually contact them as soon as he arrived in St. Maarten.
“After I saw on the weekend that I hadn’t heard from him while he was going down, I started to panic and then I said, ‘Okay, maybe he’s busy on the boat or whatever. Maybe he didn’t have Wi Fi or no data on his phone.’
“I messaged him on WhatsApp and it was just one tick and then I called him directly and I was unable to reach him. And then me and my other siblings and my mom we just started to talk about what could we do? And then I start making a couple of phone calls.”
Farrell said she contacted the owner of the boat who also said he was worried because he had expected to have heard from the men as soon as they arrive in St. Maarten and he had not heard from them.
“So, he started to worry. He reported to the Carriacou and the Grenada authorities,” Farrell said of the owner of the boat.
“He said that they are going to send out a search in the morning.”
Farrell said she had reported the matter to the Police Public Relations Department in Kingstown and the SVG Coast Guard Base at Calliaqua.