-Will set back Supenaam stelling works by a month
A flotation pontoon intended for the Supenaam stelling but which became submerged at the Parika stelling on Saturday was yesterday salvaged and towed along with the link span bridge it supported to Supenaam. The mishap will set back works to accommodate the new Chinese ferries by up to one month.
With the falling tide, one of two supporting pontoons became entangled with the berthing piles at Parika and remained submerged upon the subsequent rising of the tide on Saturday. It was salvaged yesterday morning and towed to Supenaam for inspection and subsequent installation at that facility.
Supervisory engineer of the project Walter Willis went to Supenaam to oversee the arrival of the tug boat towing the link span bridge.
Speaking to Stabroek News later in the day yesterday, Willis said that the link span bridge was safely moored at Supenaam at 15:15 hours yesterday afternoon. He said he visited the facility on the Essequibo Coast to assess the situation.
He added that a similar structure at Parika had also been safely secured. When asked if Saturday’s incident would impact the unveiling of the two facilities for use by the Chinese ferries, Willis referred all queries to Transport Minister Robeson Benn whose mobile phone went to voicemail when this newspaper attempted to contact him yesterday.
Speaking to Stabroek News, George Griffith, Maintenance Manager Marine of BK International – the contractor for the stelling works – said that on Friday afternoon the Ministry of Works was ready to transport a link span bridge from Parika to Supenaam. “We handed it over to them in good order and they accepted and it was placed along the link span berthing facility at around 17:40 hours [on Friday]. They subsequently tied it up and the tug setter was berthed alongside the western end of the Transport and Harbours Department wharf,” he said.
Griffith said that on Saturday morning “we were then informed that one of the pontoons had sunken. Upon my inspection at about 09:00 hours we subsequently found that it was lodged under the berthing pile.”
Griffith explained that BK International took no remedial action because the Works Ministry had accepted the facility, and it was now that agency’s responsibility. “We told them from day one that we are not interested in transporting the [pontoons and link span bridge] because one of the main issues was cost,” he said.
He pointed out that there were some specification changes in terms of stability that the company was asked to modify and those, he said, were done. “On Friday afternoon there was a thorough inspection by the captain and the crew of the [Tug Setter] and the main fact that they threw their tow line on the barge meant that the onus was not on us,” he said.
Griffith said that while the mishap will not affect works at the Parika Stelling it will affect the completion of the retrofitting of the Supenaam Stelling by about one month. Two weeks ago, Minister of Works Robeson Benn, when asked a question about the completion of the works at the two stellings, said that they would have been ready to accommodate the Chinese ferries by the first week in August.
“From the pontoon being under water we don’t know what damage might have taken place. We will need to look at it and check the realignment. That has to be done before we could continue any work. We are now on our way to Supenaam to do a visual inspection and make any recommendations that need to be made,” said Griffith.
Asked about the cost of the repairs to the sunken pontoon, Griffith said, “That is going to be astronomical… I would want to believe in the vicinity of $9 million or $10 million.”
Burton Harding, BK International’s Operations Manager said that government is bringing them design changes on a daily basis, leading to further delays in the completion of the project. On the sunken pontoons, he said, “we now have to go and check the condition they are in. They [Ministry of Works] just came and raised it up, pump out the water and take out some mud.”
The Chinese ferries arrived in Guyana in December 2011 as a gift from the Government and people of China. Concerns have been raised about the eventual cost of operation and maintenance of the two ferries.
