Some people have given up hope that MV Guidance would be found

The MV Guidance II, missing since the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024, has still not been found and some family members and friends of the crew have given up hope of finding the men alive.

A close friend of Maxwell Burke, the captain of the MV Guidance 11, said reports from at least one other captain who was drifting on another vessel on the same day and was in touch with Burke, said he thinks the missing vessel may have capsized due to its design and the extremely aggressive seas.

Hurricane Beryl is the only documented Category 5 tropical cyclone to ever strike these parts.

Reports also claim that Burke was in touch with other persons via cellular phone on the day he went missing and one of the last of these calls was abruptly ended after a shout/exclamation from Burke.

A Facebook user going by the name Chris Doyle, said in a post on July 8 that the MV Guidance 11 was anchored in Canouan with all crew on board as Hurricane Beryl approached.

“With the wind, the anchor started to drag, so they started the motor to try and re-anchor her. Sometime soon after her rudders stopped working, and she was adrift in the storm.

“The last person to hear from her was Mark Williams, who was in a similar position. He was in a trawler off Canouan Marina, when they were trying to get in when a rope caught in the prop and it was too rough to clear it. The trawler drifted though the hurricane and the storm left them drifting about 66 miles west of Saint. Lucia. In the calmer condition they managed to cut the rope free and motor to St Vincent,” the post stated.

On Thursday, September 26, 2024, the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Public Relations and Complaints Department confirmed that the men have not been found and have not been heard from.

The Department said also that they had received no correspondence from the local Coast Guard Service that the search has been called off.

Shortly after the vessel went missing, rumours began circulating that the boat and its crew of five were found alive but those rumours were quickly quelled.

“The M/V Guidance II is a 150-foot vessel with a white superstructure. It is believed that the vessel’s communication and GPS systems were damaged, as the last known position indicates the ship was adrift many miles,” a police press release said back in July.