Labour Department launches probe into Fishing Tragedy at Sea

Today, investigators from the Department visited the fishing vessel which is docked at the company's wharf. They were able to tour and get a first hand look at the conditions that the fishermen work under.

Labour Department launches probe into Fishing Tragedy at Sea

The Department of Labour has launched a full-scale investigation into the fishing tragedy at sea that claimed the life of a fisherman attached to the Prittipaul Singh Investments company.

Today, investigators from the Department visited the fishing vessel which is docked at the company’s wharf. They were able to tour and get a first hand look at the conditions that the fishermen work under.

Fisherman, Navishwar Karamdatt, aka Sharma, was pitched from the small vessel after sliding and being hit over the head by a piece of fishing equipment.

The entire incident was captured on the boat’s surveillance cameras and showed the man waving for help as one of his colleagues ran to alert the captain.  By the time, the Captain turned the boat around, the fisherman had already gone under water and never resurfaced.

At the wharf today, the investigators were spotted inspecting all of the sections of the boat and speaking to employees also.

News Source understands that number of safety breaches were observed by the investigators.

A former Coast Guard official who watched the video recording of the incident, said based on what he saw, it appears as though the vessel had no equipment in place to rescue someone who had fallen overboard.

The officer pointed out that lifebuoy rings should have been in various areas of the boat to be used to throw overboard to offer assistance.  He said based on the video recording and the reaction of the other fisherman, it did not appear as though that equipment was in place.

The incident took place place last Wednesday morning.

The dead fisherman was part of a crew of five persons on the boat, including the Captain.

The fishing trip was barely in the first of its planned three weeks at sea.  At the time of the incident, the vessel was already 100 miles out at sea.

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