Search continues, but situation dubbed distressing
THE situation regarding three missing seamen and their craft, the MV Oliver L, has been described as distressing by Transport and Hydraulics Minister Robeson Benn. There is still no new development in the search for the men, and Minister Benn has been speaking with both the owner of the vessel and families of the crewmen.    
The minister updated media operatives on the issue in his office on Thursday, disclosing that authorities are awaiting word from neighbouring Venezuela relative to a search conducted from their end.
Moreover, vessels traversing Guyana’s waters have been asked to look out for the missing vessel and crew — Clad Burnette; Wexton Andrews, called “Mampy”, and Ramdat Roopnarine. These veteran seamen left Guyana on December 11 last, to conduct business in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago. They were expected to return to Guyana to celebrate the holidays with their respective families, after spending 10 days in Trinidad.

Upset
Minister Benn said the authorities are “extremely upset” over the fact that they were not notified  about the disappearance of the vessel and crew until December 31 last, even though the vessel’s owner was aware of the situation since December 26.
Calling the situation “very distressful”, the minister said it is not easy for anyone to lose a family member.
According to Minister Benn, following the receipt of the report, the authorities activated a ‘search and rescue’ mission involving the Coast Guard Unit of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Maritime Administrative Department (MARAD) on January 1, 2012, and two search boxes were identified in the Orinoco Delta.
Also, through the efforts of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Venezuelan Coast Guard Unit was informed, and they conducted a search that yielded no positive results.
The Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard Unit was also notified, and they conducted an unsuccessful search of Trinidad’s southern and eastern coastlines.
Put on notification as well are the Coast Guard Units of Barbados, Grenada, other Caribbean islands, and even Puerto Rico.
Benn said the disappearance of the vessel and crew is still considered “a mystery”, as the vessel was equipped with high and low-frequency radio equipment, along with a satellite phone.  
And while there is some worry that the vessel may have been involved in a sudden collision at sea, rendering them unable to forward a distress report, the fact that there has been no sign to suggest such a happening, or flotsam from the vessel seen, makes it even more puzzling. 
Minister Benn reminded, though, that during the period in which the vessel is said to have disappeared, the Caribbean was experiencing rainstorms and high, gusty winds, but he remains optimistic that the vessel and its crewmen would be located.

Other disappearances
The ship’s disappearance is reminiscent of the traceless disappearance of two ‘Rambarran’ vessels, the `Gran Rio’ and the `Fiona R’, each along with its entire crew.
Gran Rio ‘R’, a 228-ft cargo vessel with a nine-man crew, owned by Mr. Dennis Rambarran, disappeared on April 11, 2000; and the Fiona ‘R’ with six crew members, including Mr. Chandrama ‘Randolph’ Rambarran, one of Denis’s brothers, disappeared on September 23,2002.
The Gran Rio ‘R’, which was registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, was at the time of its disappearance en route to the Coco Reef Resort at Crown Point, Tobago, to deliver a consignment of 1,500 tonnes of silica sand.
Ironically, the Fiona ‘R’ was also transporting silica sand, but to the Caribbean island of St Vincent and the Grenadines, when it also vanished without a trace.