The search for victims of last week’s boat collision on the Mazaruni River has been called off, according to Transport Minister Robeson Benn who said yesterday that maritime officials are now looking to reconstruct what happened in the deadliest riverain accident in decades.
Following the collision it was reported that nine persons were missing however a tenth body was later found. Reports later surfaced that an eleventh person has been unaccounted for.
When contacted yesterday, Benn told Stabroek News that the search was called off on Sunday afternoon as they had found no sign of another body.
An army official told this newspaper that based on the information they had received, there was a Brazilian man who was on one of the boats who reportedly cannot be accounted for. The official told this newspaper that persons using the waterway have been advised to be on the lookout for a body.
Benn said that today, Director of Maritime Safety, Stephen Thomas will be returning to the Crab Falls area where the tragedy occurred and attempts will be made to reconstruction what happened.
He said that the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) is also trying to “speed up the enforcement issue” with the help of the police and the coast guard. Benn was making reference to a number of steps outlined by Thomas in a report last Thursday. The steps are to be implemented to prevent recurrences.
MARAD will deploy marine safety officers at all major marine centres across the country who will actively monitor and control the operations of boats; all vessels will have to prepare a crew and passenger list and deposit a copy with “a responsible person” at the points of departure and destination; all captains and bowmen will have to be licensed in accordance with Maritime Standards; and the use of life vests on all boats must be strictly enforced.
The minister used the opportunity to thank the police, the army and the regional authorities including Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford for their assistance in the search and recovery operation.
He said that “the fact that we were able to set up and identify the search area” aided in the quick recovery of bodies. “If we didn’t get that, it would have been very different,” he said.
Thomas in his report said that the small open boat Dube collided with another small open boat Mattrani in the Mazaruni River on Tuesday around 12.30 pm, in the Crab Falls area, as they were navigating the point of an island. The Dube, with 10 persons on board and a quantity of cargo, was travelling from Parika and was destined for Puruni, while the Mattrani was leaving Puruni and was destined for Parika through Bartica, when the accident occurred, the report said.
As a result of the collision, a female passenger from the Dube was hurled overboard but was subsequently rescued.
The report noted that the vessel suffered extensive damage but the master managed to beach it on a nearby river bank and all those onboard were saved although some sustained various injuries.
“The Mattrani suffered extensive (damage) and sank almost instantaneously,” it added, while noting that the master and bowman survived along with two passengers.
There remained conflicting accounts of how many were aboard the Mattrani with MARAD saying the number ranges from 12 to 14. All of the dead were passengers on that vessel.
Those confirmed dead are Jermaine Calistro, 27, of Boodhoo Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo, whose body was found hours after the collision; Ulrick Grimes, 39, of Salem, East Bank Essequibo, who was found by relatives around 9 pm last Wednesday; Christopher Ramnarine, 21, of Parika, East Bank Essequibo, and Zahir Baksh, 34, of Kaneville, East Bank Dem-erara, who were found last Thursday morning; Jewan Seeram of Tuschen, whose body was found by searchers last Thursday night; Keanu Amsterdam, 17, of Barr Street, Kitty and Bartica, Deon Moses, 33, of Lot 6 Norton Street, Wortmanville, Kevon Ambrose, 25, of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo and Brazilian national Francisco Olivera Alves, 48, who were all found last Friday and Ricky Bobb who was found last Saturday.
