Promised Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) floating bases are to be fast-tracked to ensure rapid response to piracy and distress reports at sea.
“Coming out from the Defence Board meeting in February, we have concluded that those floating bases that were being constructed, we would hasten the construction,” Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon said at his weekly post-cabinet press briefing on Wednesday.
The announcement came as the search continues for two of the crewmen from the ill-fate MV Chrisann V, which sank last week near the mouth of the Essequibo River, in the one of most recent incidents at sea.
Luncheon added that suitable boats procured by the Guyana Defence Force coastguard would be anchored, secured and do patrolling from the bases in most initial period. Currently before the Defence Board is a requisition for newer categories of territorial seagoing defence vessels to equip the maritime security sector with appropriate patrol boats to respond to issues of safety and security.
He also signalled that seafarers may also face a mandatory requirement that they equip their vessels with tracking devices and communication equipment to help the authorities fight piracy and respond to tragedies at sea.
Government first hinted that it might go the route to make Global Positioning System (GPS) devices mandatory on seagoing vessels when top officials met with fishermen in the aftermath of one of the worst local piracy attacks last month. At least 20 fishermen were beaten and robbed of their catch, fishing gear and outboard motors off the Essequibo Coast and left to drift for days. The coastguard has also indicated its interest in a law that would make homing devices and radios mandatory for seafaring vessels.
Meanwhile, Luncheon emphasised the need for enforcement of regulatory practices and said that vessels would be periodically monitored to ensure they are registered and that safety guidelines are observed. At a fisherfolk convention last month, it was noted that two-thirds of the fishing vessels operating in local waters last year were unlicensed.
