Three days before the Christmas holidays, in the middle of the night, the CROSS Antilles-Guyane requested the intervention of the SNSM for a fire on a boat located in the Anguilla channel. A resident of the Terres-Basses says he saw the presence of flames and smoke on a large ship!
A team of three volunteers is then formed as quickly as possible by the duty team member. The available volunteers arrive quickly at the station and load the necessary equipment, namely first aid bags, flashlights, night camera, pumping and firefighting equipment (motor pump and hose).
At 02:48 a.m., the Rescue Star sets sail for the supposed location of the disaster.
The crew contacts the CROSS to notify them of their departure and to have confirmation of the area, as well as details on this intervention.
At 3:16 a.m., the Rescue Star arrived off the coast of Terres-Basses. The night is beautiful, the sky is clear and visibility is good when a large ship, with an enormous glow on board, is in focus.
The rescuers try to identify him using their A.I.S. (Automatic Identification System) but this ship does not appear there.
When informed, the CROSS confirms that it is also not identifiable by their A.I.S. and therefore asks them to bring it closer to try to identify it and make sure everything is okay.
During the approach, the identification of the vessel is finally communicated by the CROSS. It is a sailboat with 4 or 5 large masts. Up close, the lights that appeared to be flames turn out to be onboard lights...
Members of the SNSM immediately inform the CROSS who takes note and asks to do a grid of the area passing through GPS points given in advance.
At 4:01 a.m., rescuers combed the entire area believed to be the site of the burning ship. “We called the CROSS to report to them on our investigations and confirm that we found nothing on the water: neither boat, nor debris and above all that we did not smell any smell of smoke,” underlines a member of the SNSM. “A few minutes later, after a decision by their shift manager, the CROSS gave them freedom to maneuver and thanked us for our intervention.”
The Rescue Star finally returned to the Fort-Louis Marina at 4:36 a.m. with the feeling of duty accomplished. As they say, more fear than harm! _AF
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