Fishermen Lester Small and Leon Sears missing at sea since June 22

On Friday, 25 June 2021, at 10:12 am, the Antigua Barbuda Defence Coast Guard (ABDF CG) alerted by a third party of an overdue vessel.

Forty-nine-year-old Lester Small of Johnsons Village and fifty-six-year-old Leon Sears of Cashew Hill reportedly left Parham Harbour aboard Fishing Vessel (F/V) EDEN at 09:30 am on Wednesday 23 June 2021 and had not returned when expected.

The crew was expected to return to port by 02:00 pm the following day from their usual fishing grounds off the Northeastern shores of Antigua.

The ABDF Coast Guard spared no efforts to locate the missing fishermen. A series of actions to include broadcasting several Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) throughout the investigating period.

The ABDF Coast Guard also collaborated with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) in Martinique, the Regional Security System (RSS) in Barbados, and Antigua and Barbuda Search and Rescue (ABSAR) to locate the missing mariners.

Through this collaboration, a total of approximately 1,800 square nautical miles was searched. However, to date, all efforts have been unsuccessful, but efforts are ongoing to locate the missing individuals.

The ABDF Coast Guard requests that anyone with information that can assist with the search effort to contact the base via 268-462-3206/ 462-2843/ 462-2841/ 462- 0671.  Mariners are also asked to be on the lookout for the missing mariners, assist if possible and report all sightings to our operations center via VHF channel 16 or 26.

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