POLICE at Leguan, late yesterday responded to a call received from residents of that island in Region Three (West Demerara, Essequibo Islands) that a ship out at sea was on fire, and that crew members and possibly passengers might have been in trouble.

The call was received by Leguan Police around 5:45 hrs, and was relayed to other police stations and the Leonora Fire Station. Within minutes a convoy of police ranks and firefighters was hurriedly deployed to Parika where it was joined by Guyana Defence Force Coast Guards and they headed out towards the troubled crew.

Later, it was not clear whether the ship in distress was Guyana-owned or a foreign vessel, and whether there were passengers aboard or only crew members.

However, this newspaper last night spoke with Lighthouse Harbour Port Control Officer, Arlin Lewis, who confirmed that a vessel (about the size of a trawler) was on fire.

Lewis said information received was that it was a fuel boat, and after running into trouble, it had anchored at Point Dauntless in the Essequibo River.

The good news, he said, was that the flames had been contained to one part of the vessel and had not spread all over, and that a fishing boat had gone to its rescue. However, port authorities could not say whose ship it was, the name of the vessel, or its captain, or how many crew members were on board.

The Lighthouse official said that it appeared to them that the boat either had no transmitting set, or that if there was one, it was not working, since the Lighthouse had been continuously calling and getting no signals.
“Meantime, we are continuing our attempts to make contact with the ship, and hoping we would get a response,” Lewis said.