Tweet
are too damn tough for our own good!
Flirting With Danger - Fishers Not Serious About Safety 40 Years After Jason's Miracle At Sea
Published: Sunday | February 24, 20132 Comments
Fishermen Everton Gregory (second left) and John Sobah (second right) are hugged by family and friends after they returned to Jamaica following an almost monthlong ordeal at sea. - File
Christopher Serju, Sunday Gleaner Writer
More than 40 years after the survival drama of a Jamaican teenager lost at sea shocked a nation and stunned the world, Jamaican fishers still seem not to appreciate the importance of observing basic safety measures.
Measures such as the failure to take proper communication equipment aboard, ignoring severe weather alerts, boats going to sea without anchors, oars, or a spare engine are of concern to the authorities. Also, many of the fishing boats are not seaworthy.
The lack of professional boat handling training and inexperience in general, were identified among most of the fishers rescued as major causes for concern.
The Jamaican fishers are also failing to take advantage of the technological revolution which has made global positioning systems (GPS) and very high frequency (VHF ) radios available.
For Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Roger Clarke, this is a matter of grave concern.
Correct issues
Addressing an audience at the Old Harbour Fishing Beach, St Catherine, during the official launch of a project which will see lifejackets and marine flares presented to fishers and igloos to vendors, Clarke offered this advice.
"All of these issues can be corrected or prevented. If fishers would take the necessary safety measures. Things as basic as wearing a life jacket, carrying an anchor and telling a loved one where you are going and when you expect to return are things that fishers can and must do."
Clarke noted of the 36 search-and-rescue cases in which the Coast Guard were involved for 2008, fishers accounted for 90 per cent.
Some 30 of these cases were resolved, resulting in the rescue of 130 persons. However, in the six cases still pending a total of 19 persons are still missing and are presumed dead.
Information provided by the Coast Guard last week gives even more cause for concern, with 43 search-and-rescue operations conducted last year, 39 of which were successfully resolved, resulting in the rescue of 168 persons.
In 2011, some 180 persons were rescued in the 55 search-and-rescue operations in which the Coast Guard was involved, with only 43 successfully resolved.
On June 20, 1971 The Sunday Gleaner lead story headlined 'Jason, of Jamaica, back from the sea' recounted the ordeal of 14-year-old Jason Whyte who had spent 17 days adrift at sea, surviving on raw fish and sea water.
He was returning from Panama where he had been taken after being rescued by the crew of the German-registered ship the Eibe Oldendorff.
The story with accompanying photos of Jason leaving the plane at the Palisadoes Airport and especially one of him nestled between his mother and sisters in the VIP lounge generated much talk for weeks.
Jason escaped death in an extraordinary sage of survival, which had a fairy tale ending, thanks to a chance encounter and the sixth sense of Captain Jurgen Pentzin, skipper of the Eibe Oldendorff.
Even though he had received medical care in Panama before returning home, the teenager still bore the deep imprint of his ordeal at sea.
The Sunday Gleaner reported that that "Jason was not in good shape yesterday. He was neither physically nor mentally back to normal … Although his face hardly looked any worse for the 17 days he spent at sea at the mercy of the elements, Jason's hand and feet were scorched. The skin on his hands and feet had peeled off in some places."
Ordeal began
His ordeal started on Saturday, May 29 when Jason and his father left on what was supposed to be another regular fishing run off Rock in Trelawny.
Making the trip in another boat was Special Constable Charley Dennis and two crewmen.
After their single engine powered canoe 'What's That To You' developed mechanical trouble, the elder Whyte told the other fishermen that he was returning to shore.
By the next morning when the father and son team had not returned, an alarm was raised and fishermen from the community organised search parties but did not find them and panic started to set in.
The matter was reported to the police and the story of their absence was broadcast on the airwaves and newspapers, prompting a search for the missing pair by the Air Wing of the Jamaica Defence Force.
Several days later the search was called off and the men presumed dead. That assumption would prove half right.
Despite the efforts of 68-year-old William Dixon Whyte and his teenage son to steer it home, the vessel began to drift out to sea by the following day when the father lay down, complaining of chest pains, the 14-year-old was on his own in the wide open sea.
The elder Whyte never got up again. After a number of attempts by Jason failed to elicit any signs of life and with the skin peeling away, the boy found the strength to do the unthinkable. Finally accepting that his father was dead, the teenager threw his body overboard to lighten the boat.
Ate raw fish
The young fisherman was now focused on surviving and over the next days caught rainwater for drinking to supplement the raw fish he ate.
When the drinking water ran out he resorted to sipping sea water - so great was his thirst. Things got worse as the boat began to take in water and the young fisherman dumped the outboard engine which was now useless. The nights were sleepless for the most part as Jason did not want to miss the chance of being rescued.
Even with limited material the Jamaican was able to fashion a signal of sorts, as Pentzin would share in a story published in the Daily Gleaneron Monday, January 15, 1973.
By then Pentzin was in charge of the ship Breda which had docked at Western Terminals, en route to Belize and was looking to reconnect with Jason.
Pentzin reported that: "Through the binoculars I noticed that the boat was rather shallow and small to be so far out at sea.
"There was also a vertical pole in the boat with something fastened to the top, and in the centre of the boat stood a dark figure waving frantically for the ship to come towards him."
Questioned further, Pentzin said that it was just "by chance" that he looked and saw the vessel at that particular time and further, it was normal to pass and wave to small crafts at sea that might be encountered.
"It was just that a sixth sense that something was wrong"
Still four decades later, local fishers are nowhere nearer to being proactive, or just being sensible about safety.
A recent report from the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard noted that the reason for distress at sea, is ongoing poor safety practices by fishers and other mariners.
Flirting With Danger - Fishers Not Serious About Safety 40 Years After Jason's Miracle At Sea
Published: Sunday | February 24, 20132 Comments
Fishermen Everton Gregory (second left) and John Sobah (second right) are hugged by family and friends after they returned to Jamaica following an almost monthlong ordeal at sea. - File
Christopher Serju, Sunday Gleaner Writer
More than 40 years after the survival drama of a Jamaican teenager lost at sea shocked a nation and stunned the world, Jamaican fishers still seem not to appreciate the importance of observing basic safety measures.
Measures such as the failure to take proper communication equipment aboard, ignoring severe weather alerts, boats going to sea without anchors, oars, or a spare engine are of concern to the authorities. Also, many of the fishing boats are not seaworthy.
The lack of professional boat handling training and inexperience in general, were identified among most of the fishers rescued as major causes for concern.
The Jamaican fishers are also failing to take advantage of the technological revolution which has made global positioning systems (GPS) and very high frequency (VHF ) radios available.
For Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Roger Clarke, this is a matter of grave concern.
Correct issues
Addressing an audience at the Old Harbour Fishing Beach, St Catherine, during the official launch of a project which will see lifejackets and marine flares presented to fishers and igloos to vendors, Clarke offered this advice.
"All of these issues can be corrected or prevented. If fishers would take the necessary safety measures. Things as basic as wearing a life jacket, carrying an anchor and telling a loved one where you are going and when you expect to return are things that fishers can and must do."
Clarke noted of the 36 search-and-rescue cases in which the Coast Guard were involved for 2008, fishers accounted for 90 per cent.
Some 30 of these cases were resolved, resulting in the rescue of 130 persons. However, in the six cases still pending a total of 19 persons are still missing and are presumed dead.
Information provided by the Coast Guard last week gives even more cause for concern, with 43 search-and-rescue operations conducted last year, 39 of which were successfully resolved, resulting in the rescue of 168 persons.
In 2011, some 180 persons were rescued in the 55 search-and-rescue operations in which the Coast Guard was involved, with only 43 successfully resolved.
- Jason's ordeal
On June 20, 1971 The Sunday Gleaner lead story headlined 'Jason, of Jamaica, back from the sea' recounted the ordeal of 14-year-old Jason Whyte who had spent 17 days adrift at sea, surviving on raw fish and sea water.
He was returning from Panama where he had been taken after being rescued by the crew of the German-registered ship the Eibe Oldendorff.
The story with accompanying photos of Jason leaving the plane at the Palisadoes Airport and especially one of him nestled between his mother and sisters in the VIP lounge generated much talk for weeks.
Jason escaped death in an extraordinary sage of survival, which had a fairy tale ending, thanks to a chance encounter and the sixth sense of Captain Jurgen Pentzin, skipper of the Eibe Oldendorff.
Even though he had received medical care in Panama before returning home, the teenager still bore the deep imprint of his ordeal at sea.
The Sunday Gleaner reported that that "Jason was not in good shape yesterday. He was neither physically nor mentally back to normal … Although his face hardly looked any worse for the 17 days he spent at sea at the mercy of the elements, Jason's hand and feet were scorched. The skin on his hands and feet had peeled off in some places."
Ordeal began
His ordeal started on Saturday, May 29 when Jason and his father left on what was supposed to be another regular fishing run off Rock in Trelawny.
Making the trip in another boat was Special Constable Charley Dennis and two crewmen.
After their single engine powered canoe 'What's That To You' developed mechanical trouble, the elder Whyte told the other fishermen that he was returning to shore.
By the next morning when the father and son team had not returned, an alarm was raised and fishermen from the community organised search parties but did not find them and panic started to set in.
The matter was reported to the police and the story of their absence was broadcast on the airwaves and newspapers, prompting a search for the missing pair by the Air Wing of the Jamaica Defence Force.
Several days later the search was called off and the men presumed dead. That assumption would prove half right.
Despite the efforts of 68-year-old William Dixon Whyte and his teenage son to steer it home, the vessel began to drift out to sea by the following day when the father lay down, complaining of chest pains, the 14-year-old was on his own in the wide open sea.
The elder Whyte never got up again. After a number of attempts by Jason failed to elicit any signs of life and with the skin peeling away, the boy found the strength to do the unthinkable. Finally accepting that his father was dead, the teenager threw his body overboard to lighten the boat.
Ate raw fish
The young fisherman was now focused on surviving and over the next days caught rainwater for drinking to supplement the raw fish he ate.
When the drinking water ran out he resorted to sipping sea water - so great was his thirst. Things got worse as the boat began to take in water and the young fisherman dumped the outboard engine which was now useless. The nights were sleepless for the most part as Jason did not want to miss the chance of being rescued.
Even with limited material the Jamaican was able to fashion a signal of sorts, as Pentzin would share in a story published in the Daily Gleaneron Monday, January 15, 1973.
By then Pentzin was in charge of the ship Breda which had docked at Western Terminals, en route to Belize and was looking to reconnect with Jason.
Pentzin reported that: "Through the binoculars I noticed that the boat was rather shallow and small to be so far out at sea.
"There was also a vertical pole in the boat with something fastened to the top, and in the centre of the boat stood a dark figure waving frantically for the ship to come towards him."
Questioned further, Pentzin said that it was just "by chance" that he looked and saw the vessel at that particular time and further, it was normal to pass and wave to small crafts at sea that might be encountered.
"It was just that a sixth sense that something was wrong"
Still four decades later, local fishers are nowhere nearer to being proactive, or just being sensible about safety.
A recent report from the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard noted that the reason for distress at sea, is ongoing poor safety practices by fishers and other mariners.
Comment