Dear Editor,
Having read in our local newspapers recently about the deplorable state of the Transport & Harbours Department vessels, the dry docking plans, government’s plan to charter a vessel to ply the North West District Service and build two vessels in India, I wish to make the following comments and suggestions:
In relation to the state of the vessels, while admittedly some of these vessels are very old, having been constructed more than sixty years ago in the United Kingdom, the reason for the current state of disrepair has to be as a result of the lack of routine ship husbandry and scheduled dry docking in accordance with well-established principles and practices.
In other words, regardless of their age they could have been in much better shape. Ship maintenance is routinely carried out aboard ship guided by a carefully documented daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and yearly maintenance plan for every department. Conven-tion dictates that vessels be dry docked twice in a five-year period, and the period between subsequent surveys not exceed three years, while special surveys are to be conducted once every five years.
One of the docking surveys shall coincide with the special survey. All this is elementary to ship owners and operators. It must also be borne in mind that it is mandatory that vessels be surveyed annually by a qualified surveyor.
Should the vessel be found to have major deficiencies it is prevented from proceeding to sea until those deficiencies are corrected. When minor deficiencies are discovered, a note of the deficiency is placed at the back of the certificate, the vessel is given time to correct that deficiency and allowed to continue trading. Routine maintenance aboard Transport and Harbours Department vessels is a thing of the past. No longer are sailors seen washing paint, chipping, scraping, wire-brushing, priming and painting; neither are they seen servicing cargo gear, tending to stays and shrouds, and splicing rope and wire.
They have all lost the art of good basic seamanship. According to a report in the September 19, 2015 edition of the Kaieteur News, “The MV Barima revealed significant disrepair. The deck, winch and generator area of the vessel was a mass of junk and rust.” This should be expected considering the prevailing culture. In the Caribbean region vessels in this state are prevented from going to sea, in fact they would have been relegated to the scrapyard.
With reference to the two Chinese built ferry vessels which ply the Parika-Supenaam route, their present condition is certainly not representative of the implementation of any maintenance programme. One should be compiled as a matter of urgency and rigidly complied with. Consi-deration should be given to employing casuals to carry out maintenance duties as was done in the past to ensure clean, tidy and well-maintained vessels.
Addressing government’s plan to charter a vessel for the North West District Service, my main concern is our ability or lack thereof to maintain this vessel in a condition acceptable to the owners, as what presently obtains in the department is a far cry from what is desirable.
The good news however is that recently the Maritime Administration and Transport & Harbours Departments have taken steps to engage the services of three former Coast Guard officers who are quite capable of training these ‘seamen’, thereby improving their general performance and current low standards which obtain at all levels. Captain John Flores, Lieutenant Commander Derrick Erskine and Lieutenant John Clarke are all well trained, qualified and experienced former Coast Guard officers who served during my time in what was then the Maritime Command of the Guyana Defence Force.
They have the ability and savoir faire to instil much needed discipline in the current crop of employees and at the same time revive the past professionalism of the section. Congratulations are in order to the Director General of Marad and General Manager of T&HD for this initiative.
With regard to the two vessels which are to be built in India I have one very important recommendation for the subject Minister, which is to include the negotiations with the shipbuilders the need to have Guyanese technicians (engineers, electricians and personnel qualified in electronics) who will be charged with the responsibility of the operation of these vessels, based in the shipyard during a particular stage of the construction, to not only familiarise themselves with the layout of the various components, but more importantly to undergo ‘type training’ on the various makes and models of machinery and equipment on board.
Yours faithfully,
Captain R E W Adams
