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Boat owners beg Govt’s help to retrieve boats held by Venezuelan authorities
– Says vessels being stripped for parts
Kaieteur News – At least four Guyanese boat owners are seeking their government’s help in retrieving their vessels from the Venezuelan armed forces. Their boats are in custody of the Venezuelan authorities at Puerto Chalanas, a port located in San Felix, Ciudad Guayana, Estado Bolivar, Venezuela.
Vijay Singh’s detained vessel, M.V Gesgemani.
Based on information received by this media house from Venezuelan journalists, a total six Guyanese boats were detained in October and December, 2020, and to date are still being held by the Venezuelan lawmen for investigation purposes.
The detained vessels are: Manesha Davi, M.V Gesgemani( a tug), Samara, Valentina, Vicram and Cecilia. According to the Venezuelan authorities, the boats were intercepted in its waters with contraband.
Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday, the owner of M.V Gesemani, Vajay Singh said, that he along with the other boat owners are calling for the Guyana government’s intervention to speed up the investigation because their vessels are allegedly being stripped of key parts by the ranks of the Venezuelan armed forces.
It is believed that the ranks are selling those parts, and Singh related that they now fear that by the time the Venezuelan authorities are finished with its investigation, their vessels will be completed stripped and nonfunctional. He added that he depends on his vessel to provide an income for his family and it is already tough on him that it has been detained so long. To receive a boat that is completely stripped of its key parts, he said, would be even more devastating.
A news article published in November, 2020 by a Venezuelan newspaper called La Primicia, had reported too, that Singh’s vessel was being stripped. In fact, the article stated that two Venezuelan ranks were being prosecuted for the offence. It was reported that ranks allegedly stripped Singh’s boat of engine filters, air filters, tool boxes, fuel equipment and other key parts. The ranks were also accused of removing microwaves, sound equipment, blenders, DVD players and other appliances.
Singh said that he believes that more ranks are involved and that his vessel is still being stripped. He claimed that as part of the investigation, the Venezuelan investigators did an inventory to document the missing articles of his vessels and noted that it was only five. Singh said he had done his own inventory and recorded that a total of 186 articles were removed from his boat.
An organization name Representative of the Guyanese Community in Venezuela (RCGV), headed by a Mr. Hamraj, is doing its best to represent Singh and the other boat owners in getting their boats released in a timely manner, but so far they have been unsuccessful. RCGV related that the other boat owners also fear that their boats are being stripped and are concerned too about “material damage”. The organisation stated that it sought help from the Guyanese consulate in Venezuela but they are still to make a breakthrough.
The other detained boats are wooden passenger vessels which were detained in December, 2020. Singh’s vessel was reportedly intercepted on October 26, 2020. He had related that his boat had left Guyana for Venezuela around October 20, 2020, and was detained by the Venezuelan armed forces upon arrival. His crew was also arrested but was released sometime after. He detailed that Venezuelan authorities accused him of carrying contraband on board.
“They accused me of smuggling fuel and other contraband,” he had stated.
Singh claimed that he told them that the items on board were legal and even provided the authorities with the relevant legal documents. The Venezuelan lawmen insisted that vessel be kept in their custody for a more detailed investigation but six months have passed and they are yet to return Singh’s vessel. He is currently in Venezuela and has hired a lawyer to represent him, but still he has been unable to retrieve his vessel. One of the other boat owners, according to what Kaieteur News was told, is in Guyana and is trying to meet with the relevant authorities here to seek their assistance in getting back the boats.
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