● Authorities hopeful of possible reopening by
Monday night
● Water taxis approved for 24-hours operation
● Board of Inquiry set to investigate
● Pilot facing permanent ban
A fuel vessel crashed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) in the wee hours of Saturday morning, causing major damage that has rendered it inoperable for at least the next two days and disrupting daily travel for thousands.
The accident, which occurred just about 2 am on Saturday as the vessel, MV Tradewind Passion, was navigating the channel during the retraction period, has also left a DHB Company Ship Supervisor seriously injured after he was forced to jump from a tower to get to safety.
The vessel shifted the bridge about 45 degrees out of alignment while damaging spans 8,9,10 and 11. The damage have been labeled as extraordinary and requires a lot of technical work to restore the bridge to its previous state.
Given the sheer scope of damage, which he said was unprecedented, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill described the situation as a “national emergency” that required rallying all the authorities to deal with the situation.
At a press conference yesterday afternoon, Edghill explained that just about 2 am on Saturday, the Tradewind Passion, a Panamanian registered vessel, was navigating the channel to offload fuel at GuyOil’s Providence Terminal. The vessel was the fifth one to transit the channel with the previous four experiencing no issue.
At the time of the incident, the vessel was being piloted through the channel by one of Guyana’s five river pilots. Noting the “out of normal” circumstances that led to the accident, the pilot was taken into custody by the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) and handed over to the police for drug and alcohol testing.
However, the results of those tests returned negative and according to MARAD, the vessel was fully manned at the time of the crash.
This accident comes just over one month after a sand barge crashed into the retractor span and shifted it out of alignment. That rendered the crossing inoperable for over seven hours on September 4 and rehabilitative works were fully completed about two days later.
‘All hands’
According to Edghill, government authorities were working with a plethora of private sector entities to expedite the repair works. “We have members of the private sector that are preparing components, manufacturing components. We need to get a pontoon that is badly damaged and taking in water replaced, we need to get end posts, we need to get other gears and mechanical parts to ensure that the retractor can adequately work.
“Several members of the private sector are engaged as of break of day this morning [Saturday] in the manufacturing and fabrication. We expect that as of tomorrow [Sunday] some of these components would be delivered. We have the assurance that we would get some of the end posts tomorrow. We should have the pontoon delivered tomorrow by 10am,” he informed.
Additionally, the accident caused a number of cluster piles to be completely uprooted and are laying across the channel. Those piles are expected to be removed and the channel cleared during the course of today.
Edghill said that they are working to bring on board additional resources and personnel to strengthen the team of competent engineers at the DHB to ensure that the works are completed as quickly as possible without compromising the structural integrity of the bridge. The engineers are expected to work in teams around the clock to ensure that works are completed.
While refusing to commit to a definite timeline for the completion of works, Edghill said that they are “optimistic” that the bridge will be opened to light vehicular traffic by Monday night. However, he did say that they are hoping that the closure does not exceed a 96-hour period.
“We are working very hard to see if we could get this fixed and done by Monday night. This is being optimistic and we don’t want to deceive the people of Guyana,” he said before adding that the damage was of a magnitude not seen before.
“Right now there is work [ongoing]. Work has started and the assessment was initially done with boats and flashlights at 4am this morning. We were out there at the break of day we were able to see things better and work is ongoing. So we want to assure the public that the government of Guyana, we are doing everything humanly possible, sparing no resources, we are taking no shortcuts but we want to deliver to you a service that so many thousands of people depend on daily and that is the usage of the bridge,” Edghill said.
Interventions
With bridge traffic suspended, MARAD indicated that water taxis have been granted permission to operate on a 24-hour basis until the bridge is repaired. It also warned that speedboat operators are not authorised to increase their fares, while noting that appropriate action would be taken against errant operators.
Additionally, motorists utilising the East Bank Highway beyond Providence were urged to use the Mandela/ Eccles Road links to avoid the current congestion at the DHB.
The Cheddi Jagan International Airport has also asked passengers utilising the bridge to make alternative arrangements for the next few days.
Following the announcement of the accident, there was order at both the Georgetown and Vreed-en-Hoop stellings, unlike in the past when chaos would ensue after such accidents at the DHB. However, some commuters said that there is a need for the reintroduction of a ferry service between the two stellings as well as major repairs.
At Vreed-en-Hoop, the police moved to block off access to the Stelling Road, which caused major confusion owing to the diverted traffic. Persons had to walk from the junction to the stelling in order to cross over to Georgetown.
Edghill said that he visited both stellings with officials from MARAD and the police to ensure that all safety requirements, adequate lighting, monitoring and police presence are in place.
He said that they are moving to put in place additional points where persons can access water taxis. He said that the normal Vreed-en-Hoop and Stabroek stellings are the ones that are being heavily utilised at this point but added that a floating ramp had been installed at the MARAD Boat House to also facilitate boats so that commuters can also access there.
He explained that they would be implementing, today, another intervention which would see passengers boarding water taxis from the Demerara Harbour Bridge to La Grange. He noted that is aimed at servicing commuters from La Grange to Wales, which would also ease congestion at Vreed-en-Hoop.
Government is also looking at setting up another boarding point at either Diamond or Grove on the East Bank of Demerara to Wales. More information on this would be announced as it becomes available. They are also exploring the possibility of utilising barges to transport trucks with goods to as to ensure that supply chain is not further disrupted.
Parking is also available at the National Stadium Providence for persons trapped on the eastern end of the Demerara River. The Guyana Police Force is expected to provide security at the facility.
Traumatised
Edghill also mentioned the psychological toll the accident took on DHB workers, who had to run to safety. Planned retraction had commenced just about 1 am and was scheduled to last for four hours since the DHB had indicated that the extended period is to facilitate maintenance works.
“…[O]ur men were at work not just for the opening of the bridge. My General Manager [Wayne Watson] was actually on the bridge at the time because we use every opportunity when we open for marine traffic to do routine maintenance. So in the wee hours of the morning we had men on the bridge in close proximity of the retractor span and we had other persons who were on the bridge doing other work…many of them are traumatised,” Edghill explained.
Ship Supervisor Andy Duke, during an interview with online publication Big Smith News Watch, said that the vessel was not proceeding south and it was outside of the line of the channel. He said that a call was made to the captain to realign the vessel in the channel but that was not done.
“…as we began to speak to the vessel, the person who normally pilots the vessel, we find that was not the person who was answering. However, I said turn around the vessel and he still proceeded to come and when I saw the vessel burst the second cluster pile, I start to run off the retractor span and about 15ft off the retractor span the span began to crunch together and my leg was dislocated,” Duke said in a video interview from his hospital bed.
He said that the entire ordeal was frightening because had he not run away from the retractor span then he would have been thrown into the water, which could have been much more disastrous for him.
Duke noted that it is not the first time that the vessel was traversing the channel during retraction and that he is familiar with the voice and name of the captain. He reiterated that it was not the captain responding to the calls from the DBH at the time of the incident. “It was not the first time the vessel was coming through the channel and I am familiar with the captain’s name because you don’t really see them. When I was communicating that wasn’t the pilot that answer the radio. I was not at a visual point of view [so I could not have seen who it was],” he explained.
Edghill said that Junior Minister Deodat Indar visited Duke in the hospital, where he is undergoing treatment. Yesterday afternoon, Stabroek News learnt that Duke would have to undergo corrective surgery for his injuries and that is scheduled for Tuesday.
“Mr Andy Duke who was a ship supervisor, who was on the radio indicating to this vessel that you are not coming in keeping with standards, move turn around, drop your anchor [and] everything to avoid this and he stayed to the last moment. When he couldn’t stay anymore, jumped from his tower to get to safety,” he noted.
Edghill also said that Duke’s family was engaged and measures are in place to secure their welfare.
DHB mechanical maintenance engineer Ahmad Khan said that there were about five persons on the retractor span at the time of the accident. He said that the entire ordeal was deeply traumatising for the workers, who had to scamper to safety at the very last minute before impact.
He noted that because there was scheduled maintenance works ongoing, there were welders on the pontoons as well and when he realised that the vessel would hit the bridge, the directive was given for the men to run.
“At the very last minute I see that this ship will hit and I tell them man to start running off the bridge. We all had to run. The impact knock out both sides out of alignment and then this span start to crumble like. In all my years I have never seen anything like this and it was very frightening,” Khan said.
Changes in operation
Indar said that there would have to be changes in the way navigation of the Demerara River channel is done. He explained that the current system is not ideal and as a result there would have to be improvements.
Indar said that Guyana has about six river pilots that work with vessels traversing the channel. Those river pilots do not include the 15 that are attached to MARAD. The six pilots are represented by an association which would be contacted by the vessels to navigate then through the channels. The Minister noted that these pilots are experienced and have extensive knowledge of the channels and it is one of the reasons why the government is baffled as to how an incident of this magnitude could have occurred.
“This vessel hit both sides. The bow hit span 9 and shifted it out 45 degrees…that means that the metal is broken. Everything under the structure of the bridge is broken. If you thought the sand barge that hit the bridge was bad…this is 10 times worse from a layman’s perspective. That is why we are putting all this measure in place because of the amount of work,” Indar noted.
He told reporters that MARAD has already met with the pilot and captain of the vessel, before adding that under the new changes, a MARAD officer would be on every vessel traversing the Demerara River channel to ensure optimal safety.
This move is also aimed at increasing the number of river pilots. Government has noted that this suggestion is currently the reason behind court action but added that they would still be going ahead with it until such determination.
Board of Inquiry
Meanwhile, Edghill also announced that a Board of Inquiry has been set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident and make recommendations. He noted that the work of the Board of Inquiry would be done as quickly as possible with instruments of appointment expected to be issued today.
The members are Captain Joseph Lewis who is a marine officer and surveyor of ships, MARAD Legal Director Thandi McAllister, Youland Hughes, Inspector Ross from Marine Wing of GPF, Lieutenant Colonel David Shamshudeen from Coast Guard, Chief Transport and Planning Officer Patrick Thompson and a Board Member of the Guyana National Shipping Corporation, Dimitri Ally.
Edghill also refused to say what legal action would be taken against the errant company but noted that the cost for the repairs at the bridge will be borne by the owners of the vessel.
Thus far, the pilot of the vessel has been questioned and is under active surveillance by MARAD, which said he has been suspended from navigating any other vessel through the channel. According to MARAD, it is likely he would face a permanent ban from piloting.
MARAD Director Stephen Thomas said the pilot has multiple decades of service under his belt and is experienced in navigation.
Only on September 4, 2022 a vessel bearing the name Desal 1 with two tugs, Alpha 1 and Chaka, slammed into retractor span 9. The vessel was transporting sand at the time and was heading north when it hit the bridge.
A statement from the DHB Company had said that the impact pushed the bridge out of alignment causing the breakage of the connecting end post at spans 7 and 8. The breakage of the connecting post caused a transom beam to warp resulting in a slight opening. The accident also caused several buoys to burst.
At the time of that accident, the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic and had been retracted to facilitate marine traffic. The closure was expected to last one hour, 11 am to 12 noon, but ended up being extended to just about 5:15 pm.
The DHB authorities have been tightlipped about the name of the company that owned the vessel. However, a $40 million invoice has been submitted to the company.
In March of this year, a tug and barge crashed into the bridge, dislocating a pontoon anchoring chain. The vessel, bearing the name ‘Megan S’, was transporting logs at the time.
In December of 2020, traffic had to be restricted to minibuses, cars and lorries no heavier than 12 tonnes after a tug and barge transporting bauxite crashed into the high span of the bridge shifting it out of alignment. Motor Tug and Barge named “Rediston and Surtrans” operated by Dale Andrews Green, had collided with, and damaged several sections in the vicinity of the high span of the bridge.
On September 03, 2019, a tug and barge crashed into the bridge causing extensive damage. The tug, a Panamanian vessel, apparently drifted from Grove/Diamond on the East Bank Demerara and its crew belatedly issued a distress call. That caused major disruptions and repairs amounting to several million dollars. It is unclear if the company has repaid that money for the damage.
