Latest update April 17th, 2025 8:39 PM
Piracy attack COI… Legislation needed to properly monitor all sea vessels- MARAD Safety Director.
The last public hearing for the COI into the deadly high seas attack in Suriname concluded with testimonies this week from MARAD officials at the Skeldon Heritage Resort. It made recommendations to have legislations in place to properly monitor all vessels on water.
Director of Maritime Safety, John Flores, took to the stand and was questioned by Attorney-at-law Darren Wade and the Chairman of the COI, Rishi Thakur, yesterday. He also recommended to have more collaboration between regulatory and enforcement agencies.
Flores said that such provisions will allow for more resources in order to properly monitor vessels plying their trade in Guyana waters.
While he made it resoundingly clear that their duty at the maritime department is to oversee the safety of vessels in Guyana waters along with registering seamen to ply the waters, he added that as it relates to the monitoring of all vessels in the waters the safety director said that they were not responsible for such.
“The Coast guard is the enforcement agency of the state that monitors safety. We are the regulatory agency that is responsible for registering and licensing. In terms of monitoring therefore we would work in collaboration with coastguard and other agencies such as marine police to monitor and to try to bring all vessels under registration but it is a work in progress”, he said.
Flores further stated that there is an existing Anti Piracy Task Force, consisting of both regulatory agencies and enforcement agencies in Georgetown. However, there is none in Berbice.
Flores called for an anti-piracy plan to be implemented and to have legislations set up to monitor vessels and to have a distress device on vessels to assist fisher folk to signal for help when needed.
Flores said that the 2018 fisheries regulations require fishermen to have a device on board to monitor them while out at sea. He said he is not sure where the implementation of that requirement stands but that he is sure that it would require cooperation between fisher folk and the fisheries to be fully completed.
Flores served as a coast guard for 35 years with five years heading the coast guards.
Over 16 persons have testified thus far at the COI and it is expected to be moved to Suriname where it will continue on August 25.
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