Boat Heading to Roatan Runs Aground as Captain Faces Probe Over Reef Damage

Boat captain, Richard Hagen, is grounded in Belize pending an investigation into the running aground of a vessel, some fifteen miles east of the Placencia peninsula.  Hagen was along with three American nationals all heading to Roatan, Honduras.  The vessel departed Placencia on Friday and by the following day when it did not arrive at its destination, a call from the Honduran Navy went out to the Belize Coast Guard (BCG).  According to Rear Admiral Elton Bennett of the BCG, all four individuals were rescued and brought to the mainland.  He noted, however, that there was damage done to the reef which the Port Authority will have to assess.

The group was in a vessel named The Wet Spot, which is currently at the BCG’s Forward Operating Base in the south.  The other members of the group comprised of Thyman H Van Waveren, Caprise Shaun Van Waveren and Mexican national, Nadia Aracely Torres Martinez./