1 Dead, 11 Missing As Fishing Vessel; MV Comforter Sinks in Ghana

A 62 years old Chinese Master of a fishing vessel; MV Comforter, Cai Tuanqui has died, while 11 people have gone missing after the fishing vessel sank off the coast of Ghana, local police confirmed Monday.

John Quayson, Crime Officer of the Marine Police Unit of the Ghana Police Service in Tema, a port city in eastern Ghana, told Xinhua that the accident happened on Saturday on the high seas of Elmina, a fishing community along the coast of Ghana.

There were 26 crew members on board, including 20 Ghanaians and six Chinese nationals, he confirmed.

He added the dead is a Chinese national and his body had been retrieved, while 11 others, including a Chinese national, remained missing.

“Rescue workers saved 14 others alive and transported them to a clinic for treatment,” said Quayson, adding investigations were underway.

Sources confirmed that “The crew was hauling in a net that had caught a lot of fish, and at the time it was raining heavily and there was also a storm; so the weight pulled the vessel the other way, and as they tried to get the fish on board it turned, causing the disaster,”