Eight Antiguans are safely back on dry land after a harrowing ordeal at sea on Monday morning, when the vessel carrying them home from St. Kitts began to sink some 19 miles off the coast of Antigua, triggering a multi-agency rescue operation.
The passengers were approximately 19 miles off Antigua, returning from St. Kitts, when the boat became distressed, prompting an emergency rescue operation.
A Tour Operator Answers the Call
Owner of Adventure Antigua, Eli Fuller, responded after receiving reports of the emergency. Fuller said he arrived in time to see the passengers attempting to climb aboard a nearby ship before he and his team brought them safely onto their own vessel and transported them back to Antigua.
The Antigua and Barbuda Search and Rescue team and the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force Coast Guard also assisted in the rescue effort.
All eight passengers were reported to be shaken by the ordeal but escaped without injury.
A Day of Maritime Drama Across the Region
Monday's rescue off Antigua was one of two near-disasters at sea in the Eastern Caribbean on the same day. Earlier, the inter-island ferry Apple Syder began taking on water shortly after departing Basseterre on a crossing between St. Kitts and Nevis, with all 47 passengers and crew rescued safely by the St. Kitts and Nevis Coast Guard. Whether the two incidents — both involving vessels travelling to or from St. Kitts on the same morning — are in any way connected has not been established.
The successful rescue of the eight Antiguans is a testament to the swift coordination between private operators like Adventure Antigua, ABSAR, and the Coast Guard — and a reminder of the ever-present dangers of open-water travel in the region. It also comes amid a sobering run of water-related incidents in Antigua and Barbuda in recent weeks, including the drowning death of a man at Pigeon Point, the death of a young woman at Devil's Bridge, and the loss of an American tourist during a scuba diving excursion off North Sound.
The cause of the vessel's distress had not been disclosed at the time of publication. The grateful passengers, though shaken, will be counting their blessings that help arrived in time.
