Service Coastguard of the United States (USCG) reported on Thursday afternoon that it was suspending the search for two people missing at sea, presumably Cuban irregular migrants They intended to reach the coast of Florida.
Through Twitter, it notified that the tracking of the disappeared was carried out in an area of 1067 nautical miles and that it would be reactivated if new information about the case appeared.
#Final @USCG Crews suspended the search for the 2 missing people pending new information. Crews searched 1,067 sq. nautical thousands.
“Our condolences go out to the friends and family of those lost at sea.” – Lt. jg Underwood, Key West Sector.
—USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) December 22, 2022
The US Coast Guard in the Key West sector has been searching for the missing two since Tuesday, when it was alerted to a sighting of a capsized migrant boat about 40 miles south of Boot Key.
Last Tuesday, the USCG had reported that the search for another nine migrants who had disappeared after another accident on the high seas had concluded.
According to reports, the previous Sunday a survivor had been rescued who informed the authorities that he had left Cuba on December 10 with nine other people and that the boat had been wrecked.
#BreakingNews @USCG Crews are searching for 9 people in the water after a good Sam rescued a person Sunday, at approx 3:30 pm off Lake Worth Beach. The survivor reported he and 9 others left Cuba on Dec. 10, & the vessel capsized early Sunday morning. #HE @USEmbCuba pic.twitter.com/jKbaZlU9Dd
—USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) December 19, 2022
The Coast Guard also announced that the ship Charles David Jr. repatriated 67 Cubans this Thursday, after intercepting several vessels this week. Two of them had been sighted last Monday by the Coast Guard of the Key West section in the vicinity of Cay Sal Bank, in the Bahamas, and Marathon, in South Florida.
A day later, an overturned boat was reported 35 miles south of Marquesas Key and another with migrants on board 20 miles south of Key West.
Regarding the damaged boats, Lieutenant Commander Mark Cobb, from the seventh district of the coast guard, explained that “Winter weather is unpredictable in the Florida Straits”, so it can cause “these rustic and unsafe boats to capsize and people lose their lives.”
The USCG report indicates that since October 1, 2022, its forces have intercepted 3,724 Cuban irregular migrants in the Straits of Florida.
The figure represents more than half of the 6,182 returned to the Island during fiscal year 2022 and contrasts significantly with the 831 intercepted in fiscal year 2021, prior to the exodus that, according to official United States sources, has led to crossing the border. south of that country with Mexico to more than 220,000 Cuban migrants in the last year.
