‘Renegade’ vessel rescued again

A Cayman Islands fishing vessel that was the subject of a well-timed rescue operation last year off Pickle Bank was rescued again on Saturday by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service and the Department of Environment.

Both crew members aboard were safe and healthy when the ‘Renegade’ fishing boat was found about 56 nautical miles north of Cayman Brac. A Department of Environment patrol boat from the Brac was assisting in retrieving the vessel and its crew. 

The men arrived safely in Cayman Brac around 10.30pm Saturday, police said. 

 The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service Marine and Air Operations Units, along with the US Coast Guard, launched a search-and-rescue operation for the fishing vessel Saturday morning when an automated GPS distress call was received from the boat.

The boat – a 30-foot canoe type converted with a diesel engine – has two men on board, police said. The distress call was received by the wife of one of those men Saturday morning and she contacted police.

The small boat was spotted by the RCIPS helicopter around 10am Saturday. The vessel had been drifting since it lost engine power Friday.  

In August 2010, the vessel’s captain, Wesley Dixon, and a crew mate were rescued by local police after spending about 10 days stranded at sea approximately 50 miles northwest of Little Cayman when the boat’s battery died.

Mr. Dixon, a veteran seaman, said they began their trip on 9 August, 2010 and were starting to run out of food and water on 18 August when they were located by the RCIPS helicopter.

“That was my longest stay [at sea],” Mr. Dixon said at the time. “I don’t want to make that stay again.”

This time around, RCIPS Marine Unit Acting Inspector Clive Smith said the fishing vessel was better prepared.

“The vessel was fitted with a GPS emergency transmitter which was able to be monitored by emergency regional coordination centres,” Mr. Smith said. “That’s why the police helicopter crew located her so quickly.”