By: Amar Persaud
Some 17 persons including school children were on Tuesday afternoon rescued after the water taxi they were travelling in crashed into a fuel supply vessel in the Essequibo River.
The incident occurred at around 17:00hrs and was allegedly caused as a result of negligence by the boat captain whose licence has since been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.
The water taxi was journeying from Supenaam in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) to Parika in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) when the collision occurred in the vicinity of Wakenaam Island.
The passenger boat began to take in water and eventually submerged within a minute. The passengers, some of whom were reportedly not wearing a life jacket, were eventually rescued by another vessel and taken to the Parika Stelling.
One of the passengers, 29-year-old Rubyanna Alleyne, told INews that just before the accident occurred, the vessel was negotiating a turn but the boat captain was not focusing.
“The captain of the boat slowed down to talk to a next boat that was apparently in the river having a problem…when he finished talking to the person, he continued his journey but apparently, he was still looking back at the boat that he stopped to talked to…and around the turn, it has islands and the other side, the fuel vessel boat was coming from Parika…when he looked forward, he was already into the boat,” the passenger recalled.
According to her, the bowman was at the back of the boat chatting with the captain when the accident occurred.
“At the front [of the boat], you could have notice [the other approaching vessel] but the two sides, you couldn’t have noticed because the leatherettes were down but the front was open…so, the three said passengers could’ve seen in front,” she reasoned.
Alleyne said when she realised a collision was about to occur, she started to scream.
“The captain could have stopped the incident but he wasn’t paying attention, he was paying attention to the other boat that he was talking with,” the passenger contended.
According to the woman, she was the only person injured in the incident. She is currently suffering from a fractured right arm and other minor injuries.
“The impact hit me from the side because I was at the said side where the boat collided too,” the woman explained.
Alleyne, who sells Brazilian cosmetic products, said she would normally do delivery to Supenaam by boat. She explained that when she usually travels, it would have three persons to a seat but yesterday, it was around four. In her opinion, the boat was overloaded.
Additionally, she claimed that there were not enough safety jackets for everyone.
“I didn’t get any life jacket from Supenaam and that wasn’t normal but apparently, he didn’t calculate for the children that was in the boat that had on big life jacket…I request a life jacket before the boat leave the stelling…the bowman didn’t assist me with any…,” she lamented.
According to the woman, she suffered $65,000 in losses as a result of the accident.
Meanwhile, when contacted today for a comment on the situation, Director of Maritime Safety at the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) Captain John Flores explained that vessel’s captain has already had his licence temporarily suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.
He noted that depending on the outcome, the boat captain’s licence could be permanently taken away.
“If it’s overloaded, it’s automatic suspension under the regulation, but I have to verify, the people who are investigating they will look at all of that…if the investigations reveal life jackets and them things [were not available], it can go as far as taking away his licence or something like that, not quite sure yet…,” he noted.
Investigations are ongoing.
