The licences for the captains of the two speed boats, ‘Asahiron’ and ‘King Tide’, which were both involved in the recent mishap on the Essequibo River, have not been suspended, nor were the captains sanctioned, since the incident was based on a “life and death” situation where one was abruptly dispatched to rescue the other, Maritime Administration (MARAD) has stated.
“Both vessels had [a] licence so it was nothing really that we could have found, nobody was sanctioned, nobody did anything wrong… the second boat had four passengers, it had the captain, the bowman, and two others, technically with the two other passengers from the boat it was a bit overloaded but that was not why it sank, it sank because the bow had a puncture and it started to take in water,” explained John Flores, a Captain attached to MARAD, when contacted.
