The BK International ship New Horizon that sailed to Guyana with a cargo of fuel destined for a company in the Dominican Republic will not leave any time soon as the vessel has to be fumigated and a new crew might have to be selected.
BK is demanding that an advisory that was issued by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) alleging that the ship stole the cargo of fuel be withdrawn immediately.
BK International yesterday explained that the ship was forced to come to Guyana with the cargo because members of the crew, stricken with chicken pox, had mutinied.
According to the Interpol advisory New Horizon was heading to Guyana with a view to stealing a huge consignment of Bunker C fuel oil, which was destined for a company in the Dominican Republic.
An official at BK International told Stabroek News yesterday that the claim by Interpol was not true. The official said the vessel returned to Guyana because members of the crew forced the captain to bring them home after there was an outbreak of chicken pox on board. The crew members said they were not accessing treatment and the situation had become unbearable. The vessel is currently anchored at the mouth of the Demerara River with the cargo sealed and intact, the official said.
According to Interpol, the Guyanese vessel was contracted to ship a consignment of fuel oil worth US$1 million from Barranquilla, Colombia to Rio Haina in the Dominican Republic. Interpol said the vessel, which was to have arrived in the Dominican Republic on February 6, had not reached its destination nor has the company which contracted it been in receipt of any correspondence from the owners of the vessel regarding its whereabouts and the status of the cargo. As such Interpol advised all authorities not to allow the vessel to land and discharge the cargo at their ports.
The agency is also looking for the vessel’s captain, owner and the operations manager of the company.
Stabroek News was told that the vessel returned to Guyana since February 12 and has been docked at the mouth of the Demerara since. The official said following the Interpol advisory, management made contact with the company the cargo was consigned to and efforts were being made to contact Interpol to amend the advisory.
The company said the crew members went to Colombia last year November and some of them had contracted chicken pox and were not receiving proper treatment for their ailment. As a result, the crew began protesting and commanded the captain to bring them home to Guyana. The captain, D. Motta a Colombian had written to BK International, explaining how he was threatened by the infected crew members.
The company official yesterday said a team from the Ministry of Health would fumigate the vessel today and it would be approximately four days before the vessel could be occupied again. The official noted that the infected crew would also have to be fully recovered before they boarded the ship again. “This means that we might have to hire another crew to get the vessel back,” the official said.
Stabroek News was told that in addition to the outbreak, it seemed that the Dominican Republic company that the fuel was destined for had some financial problems. Once the vessel arrived in Guyana on February 12 the 35,000 barrels of fuel on it were declared and the boat remained in-transit.
Meanwhile, only two weeks ago two Guyanese sailors were caught on another BK International ship, MV Alexis T in Jamaica with 335 pounds of compressed marijuana.
The two Guyanese, Reuben Reagan Rodney and Vernon Mc Garrell appeared in a Jamaican court pleaded guilty to four charges of possession, taking steps to export and dealing and trafficking in ganja.
Jamaica Marine Police had boarded the 250-foot ship MV Alexis T, which was delivering a shipment of rice from Guyana at the Flour Mills terminal in Rockfort, East Kingston. Rodney and McGarrell were found in their cabins and they each had three bags of the drugs. The vessel was scheduled to depart for Trinidad. Police in Jamaica said that they were carrying out a routine patrol when the decided to board the ship.
