Costa Rica’s Coast Guard began a search on Thursday for a fishing boat that reportedly disappeared off the country’s Southern Pacific coast.
Two men were on board the boat – Luis Alberto Rojas and Andrés Villalobos.
The two fishermen left Golfito, a Southern Pacific port city, on July 20 with permission to fish for 10 days. But the two haven’t reported to the owner of the boat, Carlos Villalobos, since Saturday, July 24.
On Tuesday night, Carlos Villalobos notified the Coast Guard that he had not heard from the men. Coast Guard boats from Quepos, on the Central Pacific coast, and Golfito are searching for the vessel.
The boat, named Bumerang, is 30 feet long and has authorization to venture up to 40 miles from the coast. It is registered in Quepos under the license number PQ-1406.
In a statement, the Coast Guard said that “boats with these characteristics often travel farther than they should when fishing in Costa Rican waters.” The statement noted that the missing boat could merely be experiencing communication difficulties.
The Coast Guard has notified Panama, Nicaragua and Ecuador – all countries with which Costa Rica shares maritime borders – of the disappearance. Coast Guard officials have also alerted Costa Rica’s Security Ministry.
MarViva, a non-governmental organization, has also lent a boat to the search.
