Chief Justice to rule in case of Demerara Harbour Bridge seeking to recover over $90M from tug and barge owners

Nov 30, 2019 News

Acting Chief Justice Roxane George has fixed Monday, January 7, 2020 for ruling/clarifications in a case in which the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (DHBC) is seeking to recover in excess of $90M from the owners of a tug and barge which slammed into its structure back in September.

Repair works being carried out on the Demerara Harbour Bridge following the collision

The millions of dollars reflect monies spent to repair the floating Demerara Harbour Bridge which serves as the main transportation link between Regions Three and Four.
The DHBC, through its lawyer, Everton Singh Lammy, recently secured orders to have the vessel arrested and not released until the monies are paid out. However, the owners of the tug and barge, through lawyers attached to Cameron and Shepherd Law Firm, said they are willing to pay just over $40M.
Singh-Lammy had previously told this publication that the owners want a limit to their liabilities. The Chief Justice has been served with written submission from both parties.
On Monday, September 2, last, a tug, Marina Oceanic, and a barge, manned by Cubans, and registered in Panama, rammed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge, badly damaging the 40-year-old structure and leaving hundreds of commuters stranded for several hours.
The bridge had remained inoperable for almost 36 hours, after being twisted out of line.
Initial reports had suggested that the vessels had drifted and slammed into the bridge after the crew experienced mechanical problems while anchoring in the Grove/Diamond area of the river. But sources close to the investigation said that it appeared that the individuals operating the tug had shut the engine off, and anchored the vessel “out of the anchorage point” (in an area where vessels are prohibited from anchoring), somewhere around the Craig area, East Bank Demerara.
It is believed that the crew wanted to be among the first to pass when the bridge was opened for vessels to traverse. However, they apparently didn’t reckon with the strong tides.
“They may have wanted to be first when the bridge opens, (but) the current and the force of the water pushed them into the bridge and they lost control of the tug,” a source had related.
Following the incident, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, said that the Panama-registered barge remains impounded in Guyana. He had also indicated that the owners would be billed for revenue lost when the bridge was out of operation, and for damage to a woman’s car.