Through a statement, the Secretary of the Navy reported that, on February 6, naval personnel managed to rescue two fishermen who were adrift, after four days without an engine, and 21 nautical miles (39 kilometers) northwest off the coast of Celestún.
According to what was reported, the rescue took place after receiving an emergency call at the Command and Control Center of this Naval Command, by the Port Captaincy of Celestún, Yucatán, reporting the delay in the arrival of a vessel named “Lizandro 1” with two crew members on board, who would have set sail since Friday, February 2 of this year to carry out fishing activities at sea.
Later, it emerged on social media through live broadcasts made by friends and family of the seamen, that they were victims of modern pirates, who stripped them of their engine and left them floating adrift. They reported that they were threatened with death at gunpoint, so they did not resist the robbery, and the criminals took the boat’s engine, the radio, and lights.
They told their relatives how they crossed the north “by a miracle,” and that they were even on the verge of capsizing on three occasions due to the huge waves.
After the alert call, a Defender-type boat was deployed with rescue swimmers on board and a Persuader maritime surveillance aircraft-type naval unit to search by sea and air to locate them alive. After the naval units deployed carried out different search patterns, the maritime surveillance aircraft managed to spot the missing fishermen on board their boat and give the location to the defender boat, which managed to find the two fishermen who were in good health, proceeding to transfer them to the Port of Yucalpetén, where they were checked by Naval Health personnel and finally handed over to their families.
It is important to mention that the Persuader-type aircraft that sighted and located the drifting fishermen was operated by a crew of entirely female personnel, which represents the first flight of a Persuader search, rescue, and maritime surveillance aircraft, carried out by naval women.
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