Strange vessel found recovered from Corentyne

May 21, 2009 News

…abandoned at Zeelugt

A vessel suspected to be from French Guiana was found on Sunday on the Corentyne River by three local fishermen on a trawler.

The interior of the vessel

At the time of the discovery, the fishermen claimed that the vessel was abandoned and ransacked.

The vessel bears the name “Marfret Compagnie Maritime”, “Guyane” in addition to several other names.

The vessel is currently moored at the creek in Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo. Kaieteur News understands that the three fishermen, identified as Avo, Tingle and Cockwash were the ones who discovered the vessel and brought it ashore.

It was also noted that the men were taken into police custody but released shortly after.

When Kaieteur News contacted the Leonora Police station yesterday in relation to the discovery, the commander said that she was unaware that such a discovery was made as no reports were made to the police station.

However, this is not the view of residents in the area, as they noted that a ‘jeep load’ of police were in the area on Tuesday.

Residents in the community also told this newspaper that when the vessel was brought on the Zeelugt seawall on Monday night, a small engine and some parts from the boat were taken out by the fishermen, who eventually had a fight over whom should take care of the vessel.

Meanwhile, some residents are also reporting that there were some amount of drugs found on the boat and that three persons were found dead in the boat.

“Me hear that people dead in the boat, but me nah know if ah truth,” one resident who prefers to remain anonymous said.

It was observed that the vessel has been stripped of everything, as some of the boards are badly damaged.