THE Government of Guyana will continue to pursue claims in the matter to ensure that the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) is justly compensated for the damage caused by the vessel Tradewind Passion in a recent accident.

This is according to Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill, who made these remarks in a statement on his official Facebook page.

The statement follows reports that the vessel, MV Tradewind Passion, which hit the bridge has left Guyana without any record.

On October 8, 2022, the vessel, an oil tanker, collided with the DHB and caused substantial damage to the bridge.

Subsequently, the DHB made a requisition for the arrest of the vessel and legal proceedings were filed, followed by several court hearings.

In the statement, the Public Works Minister said the most recent court hearing in November noted that the court would be satisfied with a letter of undertaking to the value of $247,403,671 to be lodged by the owners of the vessel to then see its release.

“It must be noted that there was no actual payment of monies into the court,” the minister said.

However, subsequent to the court orders and without notification to the General Manager and management of the DHBC, the vessel sailed on November 21, 2022.

Minister Edghill in sections of the media confirmed that an investigation into this will be conducted, adding that three workers of the DHBC were sent on leave pending the outcome of this probe.

To this end, he added that it should never be inferred that Guyana, through its regulatory agencies, has no control over its waters and marine traffic.

Against this backdrop, he revealed that throughout the period of the vessel’s detention, all matters concerning the anchorage, repairs, supply of provisions for the crew and other matters were at all times known.

“It should be noted that any ocean-going vessel set to depart Guyana’s waters cannot just sail into the sunset at will. There are processes that have to be initiated… Therefore, it would be absurd for one to assume that a vessel like the Tradewind Passion, which is currently the subject of court action would not be monitored,” Edghill said.

As such, he said that Guyana can be assured that the government will continue to “vigorously” pursue claims to ensure that the DHBC is justly compensated for the damage which was caused by the Tradewind Passion.