This country’s lone inter-island cargo vessel, the Cabo Star, changed course yesterday en route from the Port of Scarborough to Port-of-Spain after it received a distress signal from a barge that had overturned midway between Grenada and Trinidad.
The crew later assisted in rescuing five people, including one man who fell overboard. At the time, the vessel had a full complement of passengers and was loaded with cargo.
The T&T Guardian was told that the vessel left Scarborough at 11 pm and was on course for arrival at the Port of Port-of-Spain at 5.30 am yesterday. However, according to Bridgemans Services Ltd president Brian Grange, “the ship received a mayday call response directed by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Port-of-Spain at approximately 4 am.”
Grange said the MRCC “requested to give assistance to the MV Carrier Adventure in a search and rescue operation,” after it was reported that sailors were overboard and in the water.
Inter-Island Truckers Association vice president Samuel Applewhite told the T&T Guardian that the vessel had a “full complement of passengers and cargo.” He said the captain informed the passengers that there was a mayday alert for the vessel to respond to a search and rescue mission.
But Applewhite’s major concern was that the close to 100 people on the vessel, including truckers, “had nothing to eat. They would only have access to snacks, like potato chips and soft drinks in limited quantities.”
In addition, he said there is only one male and one female toilet in working order on the vessel and there is limited sleeping accommodation.
But Grange said “safety at sea is number one priority always. If a maritime accident occurred and our sailors were in water and lives were at risk, I would want every ship in the area to assist us.”
However, he made it clear that “the captain would never put the MV Cabo Star passengers and crew in danger at any time.” T&T Coast Guard officials told the T&T Guardian that in the maritime world there is a distress frequency and any vessel which is closest to the vessel in distress has a responsibility to respond.
“It will be remiss of them to pass and not respond,” one Coast Guard official said.
The Cabo Star returned to its course when the Grenada Coast Guard arrived.