…says MRCC
FOLLOWING an article in last Sunday’s edition of the Kaieteur News, members of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) yesterday said that their search and rescue capabilities are not determined by their assets, such as a helicopter or a boat, but rather from the time information is received and action effected. The MRCC consists of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard, and once a report is received, a meeting is immediately called to determine the nature of the emergency and what assets need to be deployed to effect search and rescue.
Harbour Master, Volton Skeete added that the MRCC works collaboratively with the Minister of Public Works and Communication, Robeson Benn, and other agencies to ensure a concentrated effort is effected to undertake a search and rescue operation. Skeete said that information is vital, and apart from aerial reconnaissance and the use of boats to search, team effort with all the stakeholders is required, as was the case with the rescue of seven men who were on the ill-equipped tug Chrisann-V which went down in the Atlantic Ocean on February 29 last.
Skeete noted that the coordinated effort of any search and rescue operation is based on the resources at hand and the information available to MRCC.
Meanwhile, Commander of the Coast Guard, Orin Porter, who is also part of the MRCC, yesterday explained that the government, overall, could ill afford a helicopter or an aircraft, to be used for search and rescue efforts at sea.

He explained also, that in wake of any distress call from boats at sea, the lighthouse is notified, and a call is made to all vessels to respond and assist at sea.
As it relates to a 16-hour lapse that was reported in the Kaieteur News article on Sunday, Porter stated that only when MRCC receives a report can they
act.
Within a month’s time, the Coast Guard is expected to set up a station just off the mouth of the Pomeroon River, to receive distress calls.
A database is also expected to be established for members of the fishing industry, especially fishermen, in light of the recent incident in which 19 fishing boats were robbed and scores of fishermen were repeatedly beaten and left without food and water and locked in a small cabin at sea.