Among those rescued are six minors.
A call is made to the passenger transport companies in the Pacific to attend to the alerts generated by the bad conditions at sea, in order to safeguard the lives of the inhabitants of the region.
Conducted by the island of Gorgona and the municipality of Guapi, in the department of Cauca, the Colombian Navy, during comprehensive maritime security and control operations, found a drifting ship that had 34 passengers on board, including six minors, which had been drifting for more than eight hours due to engine failures.
The search and rescue operation began when a relative of the boat's crew informed the military personnel that the ship named Dios Primero III, which had sailed from the Buenaventura District in the Valle del Cauca, bound for Mosquera in the department of Nariño, did not arrive at the expected time.
Immediately, the Colombian Navy sent its units to conduct the search and rescue operation. After a three-hour search, a coast guard unit found the adrift boat and transferred its occupants to a Naval Institution ship that was in the area, where medical assistance was provided. Finally, they were transported to the municipality of Guapi.
During the review, it was possible to establish with the Buenaventura Port Authority that the boat had mechanical problems before leaving, for that reason the inspector did not authorize it to set sail, in the same way, due to the weather conditions in the area, it was recommended that when it fixed its inconveniences it could set sail only with 90% of its capacity, but its crew members ignored the restrictions and warnings. The Colombian Navy filed a protest against this situation with the Port Authority in order to carry out the relevant investigations.
So far this year, the Colombian Navy has rescued and evacuated 114 people who had different emergencies on the Pacific coast.
The Pacific Naval Force calls on passenger transport companies in the region to attend to the alerts generated by the bad weather conditions in the area, in order to safeguard the lives of sea users.
Source: Press - Navy of Colombia
