In the early hours of 28 May 2021, local fishermen spotted a narrow, white-and-blue boat drifting aimlessly off the coast of Belle Garden, Tobago. From a distance, it seemed deserted. However, drawn by a foul stench and the disturbing sight of fish circling the vessel, they approached and made a grim discovery: 14 bodies in advanced stages of decay.
Some 135 days earlier, 43 men had set sail from Mauritania in West Africa, aiming for Spain’s Canary Islands. Instead, their tragic journey ended here.
Across the Atlantic, the news struck Renata Brito, an Associated Press video journalist. With her extensive background covering Europe’s migration crisis, she immediately recognised the similarities between the vessel found off Tobago and those arriving in Spanish waters. The notion of a West African migrant boat drifting to the Caribbean was nearly unimaginable. Tragedy struck again a month later when another ‘ghost boat’ from Mauritania was found off the coast of Turks and Caicos, carrying the remains of 20 individuals.
