14 crew rescued from sinking tanker

USCG released details of the efforts on May 27 which resulted in saving the lives of 14 crew, but two other crewmembers remain missing and believed lost with their ship.

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Distress calls were received from the product tanker Cetus, with the crew indicating that they were abandoning their 40-year-old ship after it began taking on water located approximately 160 miles northwest of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean.

After the calls, the Caribbean Coast Guard directed a patrol plane to the area to begin a search for the crew of the tanker. The plane quickly located people in the ocean and dropped two inflatable life rafts. The plane’s crew reported that the people were climbing into the rafts.

To monitor both life rafts a second airplane from the Coast Guard joined the search effort. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Thetis also helped in the effort by sending a helicopter to aid in the search and rescue.

Two other merchant ships that were in the vicinity also responded to the requests of the Coast Guard for assistance. However, by the time they reached the area the two life rafts had drifted apart.

However, one vessel, the Melba, a general cargo ship, located one of the rafts and took aboard nine of the survivors. It then proceeded to Venezuela where the crew was landed on May 30.

The second vessel, the bulk carrier UBC Stavanger, located the second inflatable raft rescuing five crew members. One of the rafts also rescued the ship’s dog. The bulker transported the survivors to Trinidad.

The joint coast guard effort searched the area but was unable to locate two additional crew members from the Cetus.