-no progress in probe
Watery conditions aboard the Island Princess which is moored in Grenada prevented two Guyana Defence Force officers from checking the seaworthiness of the vessel and they have since returned here, awaiting further instructions.
Senior security sources told Stabroek News that the coast guards ranks returned here shortly after they had travelled to the island to assess the condition of the vessel because the engine room was under water mixed with diesel.
The engine room in particular which would have been their main focus was also in a deplorable condition, the sources pointed out and as such inspection was impossibly.
It was further explained that the fluid on board could not be pumped into the sea but rather had to be disposed of properly to avoid environmental problems and from all appearances that process will take some time.
It is unclear if or when the ranks will go back to do the assessment or if the government would put other measures in place to ensure that the cargo vessel which is regarded as a crime scene is returned to Guyana.
Meanwhile, the police here have not made any headway in their investigation though three men including a funeral parlour owner were recently arrested and later released after questioning.
It is unclear how the trio had been linked to the boat but several sources have said that a vessel the businessman owns was moored at a Friendship, East Bank Demerara wharf after the Island Princess disappeared. The Island Princess was to have returned to that very wharf.
Investigators are still working on the motive behind the brutal slaying of three crew members and the subsequent discovery of the vessel drifting off the coast of Grenada several weeks ago.
The Island Princess along with her four-man crew disappeared on September 26; the last known location being the mouth of the Essequibo River.
It is suspected that Mahendra Singh called Sunil, Ryan Chin, Rickford Bannister and Titus Buckery Nascimento made up that crew.
The following week, three decomposing and gutted bodies washed up in the River and based on items recovered the bodies were identified as Chin, Singh and Nascimento. The body of Bannister who was the security guard aboard the vessel is yet to be found.
After the discoveries, police mounted an investigation and sought the assistance of Interpol and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Three Mondays ago the vessel was found drifting off the coast of Grenada by the DEA and the following morning it was towed to shore and boarded.
The vessel was found to be flooded with water and two passports and pieces of clothing were discovered.
Members of the Royal Grenada Police Force forensic department found nothing to suggest that something sinister had occurred onboard and it was partly submerged.
The vessel was eventually towed to the coast guard base, where it is at present, while contact was made with the police in Guyana and the owner of the vessel Errol Prince.
Several police sources had told this newspaper that there was a drug link between the disappearance of the vessel and the subsequent murder of three of its crew members. They said that the manner in which the men were killed was reflective of the drug trade and had questioned who would have wanted to kill them in such a way and for what purpose.
Both the owner and Rohan Paul called `Jango’ who was in charge of the vessel at the time it disappeared had strenuously denied that the incident had anything to do with drugs.
Local police in looking at all possible angles to aid in their investigations had contacted Interpol and DEA for assistance
Waiting
Meanwhile, relatives of two of the dead men, the owner of the vessel, Errol Prince and Rohan Paul called `Jango’ to whom the vessel was chartered, yesterday said that they are giving the police a chance to carry out their investigations.
According to Prince, who had described the vessel as his `lifeline’, he is waiting to see what is going to happen with the vessel. He had told this newspaper in a previous interview that he would like to get his vessel back as soon as possible so that he could put it to work again with the aim of financially assisting the relatives of the murdered men.
He said yesterday that he is giving the police here a chance to do their job and is keeping in constant contact with them.
He has also been contacted by the police in Grenada. Prince stated that he has received no further information on what transpired aboard his vessel and is still clueless as to the motive.
Paul too stated that he is allowing the police here to conduct their investigations, a view shared by the relatives of Bannister and Chin.
Bannister’s relative said that the family is still mourning while his wife and two young children try to cope with his death.
Noting that life has to go on, the man told this newspaper that the investigation is in the hands of the police.
Chin’s relative said that the family is “watching on”, at the developments in the case and is being informed of the happenings by the newspapers.
She said that as of now she is keeping out to allow the police to do their work. The woman stated that the family does have concerns about the way the young man met his death but all they can do at this point is wait to see what is going to happen in the investigation.