Govt. yet to recoup over $1B for damages caused by vessel that crashed into Harbour Bridge

Aug 11, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana is yet to recoup in excess of $1B from a Panamanian company whose vessel, MV Tradewind Passion crashed into the Demerara Harbour Bridge on October 8, 2020, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill told the National Assembly on Friday.

Edghill was at the time responding to a question posed by former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.

On the 85th Order Paper, the question submitted by Patterson reads, “On October 8, 2022, MV Tradewind Passion collided with Demerara Harbour Bridge, causing extensive damage in excess of G$1B. (1) Can the Honourable Minister provide this National Assembly with the sums recouped by the Demerara Harbour Bridge or the Ministry for damages caused by this collision?”

Patterson also questioned whether the vessel still operates in Guyana.

In his written response Edghill said, “No funds have been recouped either by the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation or the Ministry of Public Works. A claim has been filed by the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation to recover damages in excess of $1B.”

The minister said that, “The ship owners made an application under Section 402 (i) (a) of the Guyana Shipping Act Chapter 49:01 to limit their liability. Despite strenuous objections by the Counsel of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation, the application was granted.”

Furthermore, “Consequently, the Tradewind Passion obtained a court order to limit its liability to the sum of G$ 246M. The proceedings are currently pending awaiting trial.”

The minister also confirmed that since the vessel departed Guyana’s waters, it has not been operating in the country.

In 2022, the collision made headlines across the country when the vessel crashed into the bridge causing an employee of the Bridge to be hospitalized after suffering a fractured leg.

Other staffers narrowly escaped unhurt and the damage to the bridge was described as the worst engineers have ever seen, leaving it inoperable for over 48hrs.

This publication reported that the Panamanian flagged vessel crashed into the bridge close to 02:00hrs on October 8, 2022, during a retraction for the passage of five vessels. It was reportedly filled with fuel for the Guyana Oil Company Limited (GUYOIL) and was the last vessel to pass through from north to south when the collision occurred.

In November of the same year, this publication also reported that three workers of the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) have been sent on leave pending an investigation into how the Panamanian oil tanker that crashed into the Bridge on October 8, 2022 causing $1B in damages, left Guyana without paying up.

According to a release from the ministry, the vessel was detained to facilitate an investigation and subsequently released as a result of a court order.

However, Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln had ordered that the vessel be released after the owners agreed to lodge some $247.4M at the court.

On November 11, 2022, the High Court ruled that the Canama Trading S De RL Company is entitled to constitute a limitation fund under Section 414 (1) of the Shipping Act by paying or lodging with the Court, as security, $245,567,288.01 in keeping with an agreement it has with the DHBC.

According to the Statement of Claim (SoC) filed at the High Court, the DHBC said that the collision caused $1B and counting in damages and that there has been no compensation despite several oral requests demanding payment of the sum.

As such, the Corporation claimed $1B for special damages and $50M in damages for negligence since the master of the vessel owned by the Panamanian company was negligent and failed to exercise the relevant international safety conventions for safety at sea.

Minister Edghill said, “It must be noted that there was no actual payment of monies into the Court” noting that the Vessel sailed out of Guyana’s waters without notifying the General Manager of the DHB.

However, contrary to Minister Edghill’s statements, the operators’ lawyers attached to the Cameron and Shepherd Law Firm said there was no requirement for a deposit. The Law Firm said that an application was made to the Court for the vessel’s release on the security of a Letter of Undertaking (LOU) by the insurers for approximately $250M.

“The LOU is an internationally recognized guarantee that is accepted for the release of ships under arrest or by agreement of the parties when an accident occurs. The sum of two hundred and fifty million guaranteed is arrived at on the basis of a formula set out in the Shipping Act which is itself based on an international convention subscribed to by the Government of Guyana,” the attorneys explained in a letter to the editor.

The attorneys said that in ordering the release of the ship, the Court accepted the deposit of the LOU with the Registrar.

“No order was made for a deposit of cash. If such an order was sought by the Demerara Harbour Bridge, we are confident that the court would have rejected it. Therefore, the statement of the Hon. Minister bemoaning the release of the ship without the deposit of cash had to have been made without legal advice,” they said.

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• Bridge, damages, Government, MV Tradewinds Passion, recouped

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