One Person Deceased Following Boat in Distress

At about 11:45PM yesterday, 28 May, the Cayman Island Coast Guard Operations and Rescue Coordination Centre received a report of a boat in distress in the waters off a resort in East End. It was reported that the vessel had run onto the reef with two men on board and no injuries reported.

A Cayman Islands Coast Guard vessel responded and attempted to render assistance, unfortunately due to the position of the vessel on the reef their efforts proved unsuccessful. The occupants of the vessel were advised that as the tide was rising they should remain onboard and the vessel should eventually free itself.

While waiting for this to occur one of the men entered the water and requested a towing line. Having received the line, he then began to return to the grounded vessel. It was observed that he appeared to get into difficulty and become immobile. A CICG officer entered the water and assisted the man who was now unresponsive.

The man was taken aboard the Coast Guard vessel where officers began conducting CPR. Efforts to resuscitate continued while transporting him to shore, where they were met by EMS. The man was then transported by ambulance to the Cayman Islands Hospital, where he was subsequently pronounced deceased.

Attempts to remove the vessel from the reef were unsuccessful, as such, the second man was taken aboard a Coast Guard vessel and transported to shore where he was assessed by EMS.

A full investigation is being conducted into the circumstances of the incident.

The deceased is a man age 54 of Bodden Town. The CICG expresses condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.