Captain Bassène, survivor of Elinkine: Account of an unprecedented disappearance at sea

Lost at sea for over eight months, Bernard Bassène, captain of the pirogue that departed from Élinkine and was found in Guinea, gives a harrowing account. Amid violent winds, hunger, the deaths of companions, and miraculous survival, his story is a cry for help and an urgent appeal to the authorities to strengthen maritime safety and support grieving families.

“At first, we weren’t lost, but the wind carried us to a place where we no longer had enough fuel to reach our intended destination,” Bassène recounts. Water seeped into the hold, destroying the rice, their only food supply. “We had to throw it overboard. The rice was our food, but once it was thrown overboard, we had nothing left to eat.”

Tossed about by the waves, they traveled nearly 80 km a day until they ran out of fuel. Deprived of food, drinking water, and gasoline, the fishermen were left to starve and the sea salt that burned their bodies. The captain recalls: “There were seven of us. Two died. Five managed to reach Conakry. Imagine, in the middle of the ocean, your companion dies before your eyes, you hold him in your arms , in the water. There is nothing more painful.”

The ordeal lasted eight and a half months. "Eight months in the water is not two days. Only God saved us," Captain Bassène repeats.

In Conakry, the boat was seized and the equipment confiscated. The survivors were hospitalized and then taken in by the Senegalese embassy. But the physical and psychological scars remained profound. "The salt burned us, the hunger exhausted us, our bodies were destroyed."

Today, Captain Bassène is making an urgent appeal: “We have suffered, we have lost lives. The authorities must strengthen maritime safety, support the bereaved families, and help the survivors.” His testimony is a warning that fishermen will never again be left to their fate.

Bernard Bassène, captain of the pirogue that left from Elinkine and was found in Guinea, spoke to the Southern Media Group.

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