PORT OF SPAINN, Trinidad, Nov 10, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard (TTCG) is expected to resume search and rescue operations on Tuesday in waters off the north-western peninsula after two vessels collided on Sunday night with five people reported missing.
In a statement late Monday evening, the TTCG said “there have been no confirmed sightings” of those missing and that the “search and rescue operations remain ongoing”
The TTCG said that it is continuing “to coordinate efforts alongside its partner agencies to locate the persons who remain unaccounted for”.
The statement said that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and the Maritime Service Division of the Ministry of Works are conducting investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The TTCG said that it wanted to “assure the public that the operation remains and that every effort is being made to locate the missing persons”.
The police said the accident occurred Sunday evening when two pleasure vessels collided, resulted in several passengers being thrown overboard and one of the vessels sinking. It said that the five people missing have so far been identified as Ameer Mohammed, Keeana Seechan, Lorenzo Oliver, Anil Ahaye and Titus.
According to preliminary police reports, the collision involved a 28-foot Bowen pleasure craft named BAMBALEO and a 29-foot Chantelle vessel named BELBAGAI.
The police said that the BAMBALEO was travelling in an easterly direction when it collided with the BELBAGAI, which was heading west and that the impact caused extensive damage to both vessels and sent several passengers into the sea.
The BELBAGAI subsequently sank and the police said nine people from that vessel were brought ashore, while six others required medical attention.
A police spokesman said that the BAMBALEO was carrying 18 people, while the BELBAGAI had 19 people aboard when the vessels collided. He confirmed that all 18 people aboard the BAMBALEO were reported safe, but said five people from the BELBAGAI remained missing.
He said that the BAMBALEO and other vessels assisted in transporting injured passengers to the nearby Coast Guard base at Staubles Bay.
In its statement, the TTCG said that it meet with the relatives of the persons “who remain unaccounted for” providing an update on the search and rescue operations.
“At this time, of the six persons who were taken to the hospital for treatemnt, five remain hospitalised with one having been discharged”.
CMC/jh/ir/2026