Owner to decide on abandoning capsized cargo vessel
OWNER of the disaster struck ‘Miss Lisa’, Mr. Ramdat Sankar said, yesterday, that, if he gets no help, over the next two days, to bring the vessel ashore, he will abandon it.
He said it would take one more attempt to ascertain whether the still missing cook, Gerald Fraser, is inside the boat. But failing to get assistance he would officially inform the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) and the Ministry of Public Works that he is no longer interested in the craft.
Sankar said, since the Miss Lisa capsized while on its way back to Muneshwer’s Wharf in Georgetown, he has exhausted the little money he had saved in trying to bring it to shore.
Now that he has no cash left, his sole interest is to have the vessel brought to land where he intends to leave it.
However, so far, he has been expensing himself trying to ensure that the vessel does not slip into the Demerara River channel, although it is in a worse state than a week ago.
Presently, Miss Lisa is positioned on the West Bank of the Demerara Channel in the vicinity of the Coast Guard headquarters, having shifted south along the river from its t original position near Muneshwer’s Wharf where it overturned on June 8.
Sankar said, up to now, he has been paying as much as US$500 an hour in the attempt to get the vessel out of the water. As recently, as Saturday into Sunday, he undertook such expense.
He said the Miss Lisa could be of interest to scrap metal dealers but that would not be to his advantage because they are likely to pay somewhere around G$3M for it and, to get it ashore, will cost approximately G$4M.
Sankar said it would take at least four tugs to bring the vessel to land and it is likely that each of them will have a price tag of G$1M to get the job done.
He said, in addition, there would still be need for small boats, labourers, wire rope and other things.
Several issues
But, at the moment, he is not in the best frame of mind, with several issues bothering him.
Sankar said he is faced with the reality of losing his lifetime investments; he owes a bank, and has to continue providing for his family.
Yesterday he disclosed that he has secured several lengths of rope and a small anchor to keep the vessel in its present position but, despite this intervention, it is still shifting with the tide.
He is being loaned a bigger anchor by BK International which he expects will keep the vessel in its present place and prevent it from drifting further and potentially getting into the Demerara River channel.
On June 8, just after 17:00 hrs, Miss Lisa was heading to Trinidad and Tobago when it developed difficulties and the captain tried to return to port on the instruction of Sankar but, making a turn caused the vessel to capsize and toss crew members into the water.
All but the cook were rescued but, to date, the 67-year-old cook, Fraser has not been found.
It was alleged that the vessel was overloaded and that an excavator that was not properly secured on board skidded when the fast moving vessel turned, causing the tragedy.
But Sankar refuted the allegation and said a crane that was used to offload and onload cargo, which was on board had been properly secured.
At the time of the incident, the vessel was taking exports for several consignees in the twin-island republic.
The Miss Lisa was reported to have been insured by at least two insurance companies but the coverage was not comprehensive.
Two weeks ago Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn said that neither the Ministry nor MARAD was going to salvage the vessel as it was not in the channel and poses no immediate threat to vessels using the river.
Following the capsizing, the Demerara River was littered with the cargo that floated in all directions and some, retrieved by speedboat operators, was on sale at Stabroek Market, also in the city.