US tanker saves Ticos, Nicaraguan lost in Caribbean Sea

The crew of the U.S. oil tanker Texas Star rescued two Costa Ricans and a Nicaraguan in a sinking ship off the coast of Jamaica on Wednesday morning, the Costa Rican Coast Guard reported.

The three Central Americans were adrift some 500 kilometers off the Costa Rican coast in the Caribbean Sea after two motors on board their 6.5-meter boat failed. Traveling from Panama to Texas, the Texas Star responded to a distress call from the fishermen who were sinking, according to remarks from Martin Arias, head of the Costa Rican Coast Guard, on Thursday. Several containers of fuel were found on board the boat.

The two Costa Ricans, Josué Miguel Mora Garita, 24, and Carlos Villarreal Núñez, 33, hail from Limón. The third crew member, Akdy Francisco Downs, 38, is from the Corn Islands, off Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast.

The shipwrecked crew is set to arrive in Freeport, Texas, on Saturday, June 28, the 249-meter tanker’s original destination. There, U.S. immigration authorities will take custody of the crew and begin the process to repatriate them in coordination with Costa Rica’s consulate in Texas.