THERE is a new twist in the saga of the Trinidad and Tobago cargo boat, Adorra, that was said to have been shot at last Friday night and forced to leave Guyana after the captain allegedly refused to transport drugs into that country.
It has been revealed that the boat had been hired to take men and equipment into the Barama River in Region One (Barima/Waini).
It should have travelled from the Pomeroon River out into the Atlantic and then back into the Waini River and then the Barama.
Instead, the Adorra ended up in Trinidad with its twelve-man Guyanese crew and millions of dollars of equipment owned by a Netherlands-based company operating in Guyana along with equipment from another company on board.
The twelve Guyanese fishermen were featured on TV in Trinidad Wednesday night last begging for assistance to get back home.
A spokesman for the owners of the equipment and employer of the Guyanese men, yesterday, acknowledged that the company had hired the boat, Adorra, along with another company to take the men and equipment into the Barama River. This was after the captain of the boat had indicated that the vessel was for hire.
He, however, declined further comment, referring the Chronicle to his boss in the Netherlands, but attempts to contact his superior proved futile.
The local spokesman did indicate, however, that the company was interested in getting the equipment and the men back home.
HEARD NO SHOTS
Meanwhile, in a TV interview aired on CNC3 in Trinidad, the stranded Guyanese denied hearing any shots being fired at the boat as the captain had reported.
A spokesman said that they boarded the boat fully expecting to be taken into the Barama River. But fifteen hours later they, inexplicably, found themselves in Trinidad.
The Trinidad Express newspapers reported the alleged shooting incident on the boat in Guyana Monday last.
According to the Trinidad newspaper, Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Kirk Jean-Baptiste told reporters that the Adorra travelled to Guyana last month with a shipment of coconut water. The crew of the vessel stayed in Guyana longer than expected.
According to reports, on Friday last the captain was approached and offered money to transport drugs into Trinidad. He refused. This refusal is said to have sparked a confrontation.
The captain and the crew were verbally threatened, the captain said, and gunmen opened fire on the vessel.
The Trinidad Express reported that the Adorra immediately left for Trinidad. The boat had not been pursued.
Jean-Baptiste said the captain of Adorra maintained radio contact with the Coast Guard after it was forced to flee Guyana. The vessel sailed into Chaguaramas Bay in Trinidad on Sunday, Jean-Baptiste said.
Police officers and officials from Customs and Excise in Trinidad are said to be investigating the matter.
TO UPLIFT COCONUT WATER
This report, however, conflicts with reports from local sources who said that the vessel had not come to Guyana with a shipment of coconut water but had come to Guyana to uplift a shipment of coconut water from producers in the Pomeroon for a company in Trinidad.
On arrival in the Pomeroon the suppliers, however, found that the vessel did not have the required storage facilities for the coconut water and they refused to hand it over for fear that it would spoil before it reached its destination.
Instead of leaving for Trinidad, the captain of the vessel identified as Captain Mark Forgenie remained with his boat in Guyana and advertised that the vessel was for hire.
It was his efforts in advertising the boat for hire that led to the boat being hired to transport men and equipment into the Barama.
Up to yesterday the circumstances under which the boat diverted to Trinidad instead remained murky, particularly since the apparently abducted Guyanese told Trinidad TV that they had heard no shots being fired or witnessed any altercation between the captain or anyone else.
Meanwhile, another section of the media reported yesterday that the Guyana Police Force has sent correspondence to Interpol in relation to the report that a Trinidadian vessel was shot at in Guyana’s waters after its captain refused to transport drugs.
Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said, yesterday, that the Guyana Police had requested information from the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard and was awaiting a report from them on the incident.