Anguilla is trying to come to grips with a bitter-sweet situation in which three resident Spanish-speaking fishermen became lost at sea – with two rescued after an extensive air and sea search but with one – the Pastor of a Church still missing.
The men were fishing in the western waters of Anguilla. They were missing since on Saturday night, June 30. The two lucky fishermen were rescued and brought back to Anguilla on Sunday night by one of Fun Time charter vessels after they were sighted by search aircraft. Their boat was also found and brought to shore.
Pastor Oscar Ramos Nieve, who has a family in Anguilla, was the leader of the Spanish mission of the Church of God of Prophecy in Welches Village for the past two years or more. His disappearance has not only left his wife and children in a state of mourning, but also the some twenty members of his small road-side church in the eastern section of Anguilla, as well as many Spanish relatives, friends and other persons on the island.
His pastoral work was under the supervision of the Anguilla Overseer, Bishop Samuel Daniel, who has responsibility for both the Spanish and English-speaking Church of God of Prophecy Churches on the island.
Responding to a request for information on Pastor Oscar from The Anguillian newspaper, Bishop Daniel said he had been pastoring the Spanish Church at Welches for some two years or more. He described him as having been the main contractor for the current rebuilding of the Spanish Church at South Hill.
That church building was severely damaged and otherwise compromised by Hurricane Irma in September 2017 – and was subsequently demolished. It is now at an advanced state of reconstruction at concrete roof level. Pastor Oscar was undoubtedly previously involved in the refurbishing of a former shop at Welches to serve as a new church building – adding to the various inter-denominational places of worship in Anguilla.
Bishop Daniel said his junior Pastor was a good contractor for the church and had also been involved in other construction work on the island. He could not comment on the Pastor’s fishing or other sea-faring experience – and joined in expressing encouragement and condolences to his family and friends.
Meanwhile, Governor Tim Foy, OBE, whose office has responsibility for safety and security, went on Radio Anguilla on Monday, July 1, to speak on the unfortunate incident. He thanked a number of persons and organisations who participated in the extensive search and rescue operation and regretted that Pastor Oscar was not found. The Governor was accompanied on the radio by Minister of Communications, Mr. Curtis Richardson, and Commissioner of Police, Mr. Paul Morrison.
Governor Foy said in part: “I want to thank the police service, and the fire and rescue service, which took the initial calls and got the initial rescue operation on the way. I really want to thank Anguilla Air Services who got their aircraft up in the air at very short notice – I think Captain Avery was the pilot. Particular thanks to him but also to every individual who gave of their time to join in that search…
“I want to put on record our appreciation for the Dutch Coast Guard, and friends and colleagues in the United States who launched an aircraft and a very expensive search was undertaken. I want to particularly thank Fun Time Charters who actually put to sea a very suitable boat and got ahead of anybody else…I think the guys [the two fishermen] were out of the water within ninety minutes…That was a remarkable effort. I am sure that I have missed lots of people. One person I have definitely forgotten is a gentleman who was working in the tower at the Clayton J. Lloyd Airport – who was playing a fantastic role connecting people from the American aircraft, the Dutch Coast Guard, the Anguilla Air Services aircraft, ourselves [and others].”
The Governor later told The Anguillian newspaper that while the search on sea was of great value and assistance, the search from the air was of even more help in spotting the two fishermen still clinging to life and hope.
While at Radio Anguilla, Minister Curtis Richardson, who regretted the incident, pointed to the need for safety at sea. He said in part: “There are certain things that, as Minister of Fisheries and so forth, that we need to look into. One of those things is proper vessels. Every time that we have these unfortunate incidents, we speak a lot about it. But I want the public to know that no matter how many vessels we had, the search mission by air was key. There is no getting away from that.
“I told my Permanent Secretary, we have to seriously look into matters as to how we should register and license boats. The radio and vessel licences should not be separate components. We need to make sure that fishing boats are licensed with a radio system as part of the licensing requirement.”
It was not immediately clear how the incident occurred. The two stranded men were brought back to Anguilla by one of Fun Time’s charter vessels and were admitted at the Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment. Their boat, found many miles from Anguilla, was also brought ashore.
