Seven fishermen stranded at sea after engine failure

Seven fishermen aboard the canoe ‘Second Chance’ have made contact by phone after being stranded at sea for over a week. The crew reported that an outboard motor failure caused them to drift more than 120 nautical miles from the shore.

Crew member Kwame Akyim described the crew’s struggle to survive, noting they have had to boil seawater to drink and have lacked proper meals for over a week. While the men reported they are generally stable, they expressed distress that passing ships have failed to respond to their calls for help.

The disappearance was reported to police on October 18, nine days after the vessel departed from Sekondi Fishing Harbour on October 9. A multi-agency search operation is currently underway, involving the Ghana Navy, the Ghana Maritime Authority, the Western Regional Police Command, and the Fisheries Commission. The search area has expanded significantly, stretching from the Western Region toward the Volta coast and Tema.