The search for Gerald Fraser, the cook onboard cargo vessel Miss Elissa which capsized in the Demerara River on Friday last, continued yesterday, led by the GDF Coastguard.
Coastguard Commander, Orin Porter, told Stabroek News via telephone that they are not giving up hope, but noted that it is a difficult task for divers to scour the area surrounding the vessel because of the condition of the water.
Porter said they are currently monitoring the vessel in the light of recovering anything from the site.
Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) Harbour Master, Volton Skeete, told this newspaper that discussions are still ongoing between salvagers and the owner of the vessel, Vijay Sankar as to the best way forward. He added that at this time MARAD is currently assisting the Coastguard with rescue searches.
Skeete said they are also facilitating the discussions between the owner and salvagers so as to ensure safety and the cheaper way out.
The Harbour Master told Stabroek News that on Sunday morning the capsized vessel was dragged out of the main shipping channel in the Demerara River to reduce the danger it posed to other ocean going vessels.
He refuted reports that the vessel was overladen, stating that it would have sunk instead of capsizing.
Recounting what transpired on Friday last, Captain of the vessel, Justin Bynoe, told this newspaper last night that the vessel left the harbour some time around 4.45 pm.
“We were a distance away from the wharf when I discover we had some technical difficulties and we decided to go back,” he said. “When going back the cargo shift and the ship start to twist and next thing we know it was capsizing.”
Bynoe, when asked, refused to state what technical difficulties they encountered.
He stated that he has been the captain of Miss Elissa for over six months.
Fraser’s wife, Jean Thompson, described him as a jovial person and stated that he left home on Friday around 8 am and told her that he would return in two weeks. She stated that he would travel with the vessel every month to neighbouring island Trinidad. The woman also related that she was not satisfied with the manner in which the rescue efforts were conducted to save her husband on Friday afternoon. She said the authorities reported that they heard knocking on the hull of the vessel and according to her, additional work could have been done earlier to find the man.
Stabroek News was told that as the vessel tilted over and crew members scampered to safety, Fraser returned to a cabin to retrieve his bag along with a mobile phone.
Meanwhile, according to GINA in an earlier press release a welding team was dispatched to the area but it was later determined that it was not Fraser communicating with them, as the area on the vessel contained fuel tanks and machinery.
On Friday evening, the teams on site called off search and rescue efforts close to an hour and a half after the boat capsized. This move drew criticisms from persons at the scene who said that the authorities appeared ill-prepared to address the situation. MARAD Director Stephen Thomas told the media then that it was unsafe to continue the search.
Thomas said there were no dedicated divers the organisation could have called upon for assistance.
The 130-foot cargo vessel was transporting coconuts, wallaba poles and rice to the Caribbean island when the incident occurred.
Reports are that at 4.45 pm on Friday the cargo vessel departed the Muneshwer’s Wharf for Trinidad and three hours later, the vessel was seen heading back to shore.
Within minutes and in sight of its departure point, the vessel overturned as its hapless crew members jumped to safety.
