Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
Father believes missing son still alive
… Two weeks after trawler explosion
He vanished without a trace two weeks ago after a fuel explosion sank the trawler he was travelling on, but Ravi Ragoonauth’s father refuses to give up hope that his son will be found alive.
Reports from two survivors indicate that the 39-year-old fisherman perished when he was trapped on the burning vessel, Captain Tom, which went down in Suriname waters two Saturdays ago.
Missing: Ravi Ragoonauth
A second seaman, 46-year-old Rameshdat Misir Narine, called ‘Barrat’, succumbed from severe burns two days later in a Paramaribo hospital. The captain, Ramlall Ramjattan, and crew member Sharief Khan escaped the inferno by jumping overboard.
The fact that Ragoonauth’s remains have not been located has given some relatives the faint hope that he, too, may have escaped.
“We praying and hoping that he alive,” his father, Ram Ragoonauth said yesterday.
“Me got to get something (evidence) to show that he dead. How long me ain’t see anything me know me son still alive.”
But meanwhile, Mr. Ragoonauth said that the family is dissatisfied with the lack of information they are receiving from the boat captain and the owner of the Captain Tom, Mr. Sasesankar, also known as ‘Charlie’.
He said that the family lacks the financial resources to hire a lawyer.
Efforts yesterday by Kaieteur News to reach Sasesankar proved futile.
According to reports, Ragoonauth was in the engine room, and the other three crew members were on the deck when the boat burst into flames. Narine, called ‘Barrat’, reportedly ran into the engine room to inform Ragoonauth about the fire.
It is alleged that by the time the man exited the engine room, the vessel was almost engulfed in flames. Narine, Ramjattan and Sharief Khan jumped overboard.
They were rescued by Surinamese Coast Guard and a fishing vessel.
According to the vessel owner, Sasesankar, he was informed that a generator caught fire. However, other reports suggest that the men were pumping fuel when an explosion occurred.
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Fisheries Department said that the vessel is not registered by the Fisheries Department.
As such, the Captain Tom was not recognised as a fishing vessel licenced to fish in Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
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