WITHIN just over a two-year span, the Guyanese Rambarran shipping clan of Meadow Bank, Greater Georgetown, suffered the loss of two ocean-going vessels, along with their entire crews, which included a family member/owner.

The vessels, Gran Rio ‘R’, a 228-ft cargo vessel with a nine-man crew owned by Mr. Dennis Rambarran , and Fiona ‘R’ with six crew, including Mr. Chandrama ‘Randolph’ Rambarran, a brother, disappeared in April 2000 and September 2002, without a trace.

Missing: Phillip Scott

At the time of the April 11, 2000, disappearance, the Gran Rio ‘R’, which was registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, was en route to the Coco Reef Resort at Crown Point, Tobago, to deliver a consignment of 1,500 tonnes of silica sand.

The Coco Reef Resort and beach had been destroyed by ‘Hurricane Lenny’ and the sand was to have been used to develop a man-made beach.

Ironically, the Fiona ‘R’ was also transporting silica sand, but to the Caribbean island of St Vincent and the Grenadines when it vanished on September 23, 2002.

Aboard the Gran Rio ‘R’, an all-black bulk carrier with white fittings, were Captain Michael Paul, also known as Patrick Paul, 54, of John Street, Campbellville, Georgetown; Chief Mate Maurice Mangru, 37, of Eccles, EBD; Chief Engineer, Indarpaul Latchman, 40, of Eccles New Scheme; Second Engineer John Carpan, 35, of Iowa, U.S.A. and Land of Canaan, EBD; Third Engineer, Phillip Scott, 21, of Mocha Villa, EBD; cook, Ravanand Persaud, 33, of Land of Canaan, EBD; sailor, Michael Joseph, 28, of Thomas Street, Kitty, Georgetown; Muhammed Inshan, 41, of Mahaicony Village, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and Rummel Wilson 25, of Eccles Old Scheme, EBD.

Missing: Indarpaul Latchman

With another anniversary looming, Rambarran, when contacted by the Guyana Chronicle, said he remains in limbo as there has been no development since the 2000 incident.

“Some relatives come by from time to time and I give them whatever financial and other assistance I can afford at the time, but there has been no word, nothing at all,” he added.

Asked about his brother, he said there has been no word about him and his crew either.

But what makes the incident even more baffling is that the vessel was said to be equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to trigger off an alarm should the vessel sink, as well as radios capable of making long-distance contact within a 75 to 100-mile radius.

The vessel set sail from Port Georgetown on April 9, 2000, not expecting to be out for more than a week.

Missing: Maurice Mangru

Reports are that the T/T Coastguard at the Staubles Bay Station received a signal from the ‘Gran Rio R’ which was then somewhere off the coast of Tobago, sometime around 21:30 hrs that night.

The signal indicated that the vessel was about two hours sailing time from Crown Point but that it was taking in water. A request was made for a pump to be on standby to await the ship’s docking.

And because there was no indication that the Gran Rio ‘R’ was in imminent danger, T/T Coastguard officials did not treat the signal as one of distress.

Missing: John Karpan

After Rambarran sailed his ‘Fiona R’ on September 22, for Kingston, St Vincent and the Grenadines, with a six-member crew aboard, the last contact made with the ship was when he (Rambarran) spoke with his wife in Guyana, according to Mr. Winston English of Wills Agencies Limited, the ship’s agent in St Vincent. English related that Rambarran and the vessel were expected to arrive around daybreak on September 24, 2002.

The ship, which was also equipped with a GPS, never arrived, neither has there been any positive sightings despite coordinated searches.