Mexican Navy searching for two sailboats carrying aid to Cuba lost in the Caribbean
The boats set sail six days ago from Isla Mujeres, in Quintana Roo, and according to authorities, there is no confirmation that they have reached their destination
The Mexican Navy Secretariat (Semar) has launched a search-and-rescue operation for two sailboats, carrying nine crew members, that departed from Isla Mujeres in Quintana Roo on March 20 to deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba, the agency reported in a statement on Thursday. The Navy stated that the vessels were scheduled to arrive in Havana between Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. However, “so far” there has been “no communication or confirmation of their arrival.”
The schooners belong to the Nuestra América Convoy fleet, the humanitarian project promoted by Progressive International to support Cuba, a spokesperson for the organization confirmed to EL PAÍS. Similarly, the same source stated that the organization has also been unable to contact the sailboats. However, they downplayed any cause for alarm: “This is a standard search-and-rescue protocol that is activated when vessels lose contact. At this stage, there are no indications of an emergency situation.”
The Navy has not disclosed the nationalities of the nine people on board. Semar stated that it is in communication with maritime rescue centers in Poland, France, Cuba, and the United States, “as well as with diplomatic missions from the sailors’ countries of origin.”
On the same weekend the boats set sail, a ship from the convoy departed from Puerto Progreso, in Yucatán (southeast Mexico), carrying nearly 30 tons of humanitarian aid. The vessel arrived in Havana on Tuesday.
Semar added that it has deployed “surface and air units,” including Persuader-class maritime patrol aircraft, “along the estimated route between Isla Mujeres and Havana,” taking into account “possible course changes, as well as the prevailing weather conditions and ocean currents in the region.”
The agency also called on commercial, recreational, and fishing vessels operating in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to “immediately report to the nearest naval authorities” any information they may have regarding the missing sailboats.
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