Infrared CCTV cameras needed to monitor vessels passing through Harbour Bridge

Oct 28, 2022 News

– BoI recommends

Kaieteur News – The Board of Inquiry (BoI) set up to investigate the recent Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) accident, has recommended that the Government install some Infrared and CCTV Security cameras there.

These cameras according to the BoI will “assist the process of identifying any approaching policy breaches regarding bridge transit”. Apart from identifying vessels that are not following the rules when transiting the bridge, footage from the security cameras can play a vital role when investigating errant ships.

The Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB)

During the wee hours of October 8 last, a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker, MV Tradewinds Passion, loaded with fuel for the Guyana Oil Company, (Guyoil) crashed into the DHB. The accident caused severe damage to the bridge making it inoperable for three days. A DHB staffer, Andy Duke, also suffered a broken leg during the crash.

The BoI investigated the incident but due to the lack of cameras at the bridge they had to rely only on information obtained from interviews conducted with all parties involved. Duke, the injured staffer, recalled that he had observed that the vessel was off its designated channel bearings as it approached the bridge and had via radio, called out to the crew onboard to stop and turn around but it kept on coming.

At the last moment, he decided to jump from the tower on the bridge to save his life and ended-up injuring his leg in the process. A drug test and eye test was conducted on the private river pilot, Kenneth Cort, contracted to transit the vessel through the bridge and the results came back negative.

After conducting more interviews with other eyewitnesses, and the crew onboard, the BoI came up with three probable causes for the accident and concluded that Cort had relied on his own judgment to transit the bridge rather than utilising the navigation tools onboard of the vessel.