Trawler explosion…
…captain feared drowned
ACTING Director General of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) Claudette Rogers said the investigation into the exploding trawler cannot commence until the hospitalized crewmembers are well enough to be a part of it, since they will have to relate what happened on board the vessel to the persons conducting the investigation. “You can’t have an investigation outside of the crew,” Rogers said, adding that it would not be prudent.
The vessel, ‘Captain Lloyd 97’ had an explosion on board Saturday morning injuring four sailors with the captain, Delbert Williams, remaining missing.
Three of the crewmembers are being treated in hospital for various degrees of burn injuries while a fourth one was treated at hospital and sent away.
The MARAD head said the vessel would have had to be approved for seaworthiness prior to its voyage.
This comes amidst statements that the vessel had been flagged for safety issues by crewmembers.
Rogers told this newspaper that one of the crewmembers gave a “harrowing” account of what took place on board the ill-fated vessel and because of that, the investigators seem to have a better understanding of what occurred.
She said that MARAD would have issued its certification of the vessel contingent on the boat’s fulfillment of the requisite safety regulations. These included firefighting equipment and life jackets being on board and in working order.
The MARAD Director General acting said that, with regard to the search for the missing captain of the vessel, the agency is a part of the exercise, along with the Guyana Coast Guard and the owner of the boat, Pritipaul Singh Investments.
Speaking with this newspaper, a source from Pritipaul Singh Investments – who declined to be identified,  said the cause of the explosion is not known but that “things would happen”.  He added: “Nobody knows what led to it.”
He said the company is engaged in the search and is involved in flyovers in search of the missing man. This newspaper understands that the vessel was towed into port yesterday morning.
According to the source from Pritipaul Singh Investments, when the vessel erupted in flames from the engine room, the men put the captain in a container which was afloat. The captain was said to be engulfed in flames and most likely suffered severe burns.
The Pritipaul Singh Investments official said the other crewmembers then lowered themselves into a lifeboat and after doing this, tried to get the container with the captain in it close to their lifeboat. He said that because of the flames and the heat, the men found it difficult to complete the task of getting the container close to the lifeboat.
He said it was at that point that a Venezuelan boat came to their rescue. But he said when the rescuers had picked up the men in the lifeboat and in the water, they did not see the captain in the container in which he was placed. “He is a dedicated person,” the official said.
The official said that all of the company’s boats left what they were doing and came to the scene of the incident to render assistance and to search for the missing captain. The man is feared drowned.
The official of the company said the missing captain has been in the employ of the company for a long time and was a very efficient worker. He said when other workers fell short of production targets, he was the one that always exceeded his.
The official said the vessel was ‘up to speed’ on all of the required safety gear on board. He said the company is working along with the Ministry of Agriculture to make all efforts at finding the missing captain.