Two fishing trawlers slammed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge yesterday, after a strong tide broke them loose from their moorings at the Georgetown Ferry Stelling.
The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic briefly, but reopened soon after the accident, which is being investigated by the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD).
The Noble Sun and the Lady Sue were tied together and moored alongside the stelling until around 3 pm yesterday, when the tide proved too strong for the ropes which held them to the berth.
The ropes snapped and the trawlers drifted downriver for more than five minutes before slamming into the northern side of the bridge. No one was on board either vessel at the time and neither was anyone on the bridge injured.
However, one of the vessels ripped through the pedestrian rails at the side of the bridge, while at least one of the pontoons supporting the bridge was damaged. Another vessel, the Captain Kevin, was summoned to tow the two vessels away but it ended up being stuck and had to await the tide later in the afternoon to move off.
General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, Rawlston Adams, told Stabroek News at the bridge that the two vessels caused some amount of damage to the bridge based on preliminary investigations. He said that the vessels hit Span 12, but fortunately missed the retractor span.
He said MARAD and the GDF Coastguard were both notified and officers from the former agency visited the scene to investigate the incident.
Adams indicated that maybe by this morning a more conclusive assessment of the incident will be determined.
Adams said it was not the first time that such an incident occurred. “Maritime [MARAD] will investigate how that happened… Unfor-tunately, now, things like this happen too frequently. What we can hopefully do is reinforce our collision protection systems,” he noted.
He added that MARAD may also have to stress the importance of better mooring practices to boat operators, who operate alongside the river.
The identity of the operators of the two vessels was unclear. However, persons who work with the owners told Stabroek News that they were having lunch at the time of the incident. They said that they were told that the vessels had drifted away from the stelling after the ropes burst.
The men said that they made desperate attempts to scurry to the drifting vessels but the tide was too strong and in a matter of minutes the two boats had reached the bridge. The men stated that one of the vessels sustained major damage, while checks were being made to determine whether the mechanical systems aboard the vessels were still intact. The men said that they attempted to pull the two vessels from the area but this would have caused more damage to the structure.
When this newspaper arrived at the scene, traffic was backed up on both sides of the bridge as staff carried out assessments of the damage done. The bridge was reopened shortly afterwards to small vehicles.
The incident comes just over two months after a small section of the bridge sank, when the jaws of one of the piers supporting two temporary pontoons at the bridge broke, resulting in its closure for two days and disrupting traffic between regions Three and Four.
With the accident highlighting the poor state of the bridge—which has been plagued by mechanical problems having long passed the end of its lifespan— Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon had announced that a pre-feasibility study for replacing it was expected to be ready by year end.
Luncheon said the study would examine the viability of an underground tunnel, an above ground fixed bridge or another floating bridge.
