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Seaman with severed legs sues Noble House
– rejects fishing company’s compensation package
The seaman whose legs were severed in a trawler mishap last January has rejected a financial package that Noble House Seafoods had offered him and is taking the firm to court.
Kaieteur News understands that Noble House had offered Russel Cornelius some $5M in compensation.
Instead, Cornelius, who has four children, felt the offer is inadequate and is seeking substantially more through the courts.
Russell Cornelius
“It’s up to the courts to set the figure but we certainly feel that he deserves between $20M to $25M,” a source close to the injured seaman told Kaieteur News yesterday.
During a meeting with a Ministry of Labour official and some of Cornelius’ relatives, Noble House officials had also said that they would offer the disabled man a job, which would have entailed him monitoring the company’s surveillance cameras.
In addition, Noble House had given assurance that Cornelius’ National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions are in order and he will receive financial assistance from the NIS for his injuries.
The Noble House officials had also promised to provide him with artificial limbs.
Kaieteur News was told that Attorney-at-Law and Alliance For Change (AFC) Co-Leader Raphael Trotman is representing the fishing company, while Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes is looking into Cornelius’ interests.
Cornelius, of Grove, East Bank Demerara, had his legs severed at the knees on January 18, when his limbs got entangled in a winch on the ‘World Friend 307’, a trawler that is owned by Noble House Seafoods.
At the time, the vessel was some nine miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.
Fortunately, the trawler captain managed to contact the lighthouse supervisor, who informed the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard.
The crew of a Coast Guard vessel then brought the injured man to shore, and an ambulance took him to the GPHC in the nick of time.
Trawler captain, Roy Soknanan, and four of his crewmen have all submitted statements about the mishap.
In his statement, Soknanan said that at around 18:30 on January 18 last, he gave instructions to pick up the nets.
He stated that as soon as the winch started and stopped, two crew members ran into the wheelhouse and said that “something wrong with Cornelius.”
Soknanan said he left the wheelhouse and saw the mangled Cornelius on the try net winch.
He assisted in lifting Cornelius into the cabin, where the injured man was placed on a mattress. The trawler captain stated that he then wrapped Cornelius’ legs and put ice on them.
Noble House officials have said that at the time of the mishap, the vessel was contracted to a captain, who had hired Cornelius.
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