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Albert James and Junior Thorn are being brought back to shore. (Photo credit: Tobago Emergency Management Agency - TEMA)
SCARBOROUGH, Tobago, CMC – Tears of joy and relief flowed at the Pigeon Point fishing depot on Saturday as two fishermen who went missing five days ago were safely found.
Albert James and Junior Thorn were brought back to shore by other fishermen who found them anchored off Crown Point when they went to check on their fish pots.
The two had left Pigeon Point Fish Port for a fishing trip around 6 a.m. last Tuesday, in an open-top fiberglass pirogue. They were subsequently reported missing.
On their safe return yesterday, Thorn told the media: “I feel great. To stay alive, I drank water, eat fish. We were in our boat and we were worried about survival but where we anchored, the guy came to see his fish pot.”
James added that the experience was “not nice” and he was lucky to have made it.
“I would tell anybody: you have to get the right instrument to go to sea. It can save your life every day,” he told the Trinidad Express newspaper.
James’ emotional wife, Indira Surkumar, was relieved to have her partner back.
“The best catch is my husband that come back to shore…. I am grateful and thankful for the love and support,” she told reporters.
Three days after James and Thorn went missing, the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) initiated a search in conjunction with relevant authorities.
Speaking to the Newsday newspaper, TEMA director Allan Stewart explained how James’ actions might have saved the duo from a further ordeal.
“James would have had an enormous amount of experience. So he highlighted that what he did, when he recognised that they were in grave difficulties, they allowed themselves to be tied back to the fishing pots that were anchored at sea,” he explained.
“So it kept them in a particular location with the understanding that their colleagues at some point in time will come to look at their own fishing pots and will find them. That was the strategy that was used and worked out for him. He used his head and he tied himself to the fishing pots.”
According to Health Secretary Dr Faith Brebnor, the men, who were taken to the Scarborough General Hospital, received treatment for dehydration but were “stable and in good spirits”.
“Further testing and observation are ongoing. Recovery so far is good and without complication,” she said.
Grace-Anne Smith 
