Dear Editor,
We refer to the letter by Shamshun Mohamed in your edition yesterday headed “The bizarre saga of the ship, the bridge and the government continues.” Mr. Mohamed stated that the ship caused one billion dollars in damage (to the Demerara Harbour Bridge) but that the ship countered with two hundred and fifty million dollars and moved to the court seeking the release of the ship. He alleged that the court ordered the release, but the ship left without depositing the sum. In an earlier statement issued by the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. Bishop Juan Edghill, he admitted that the court released the ship but insinuated that Maritime Administration committed an irregularity in allowing the ship to depart because it deposited no cash.
The ship was arrested by an order of the court on application by the Demerara Harbour Bridge claiming damages in the vicinity of one billion dollars. We applied for the release of the ship on the security of a Letter of Undertaking (LOU) by the insurers for a sum of approximately two hundred and fifty million dollars. 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.
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. The penalization of staff of Maritime Administration is even more baffling when the court ordered the release of the ship and later ordered costs totaling $2 million on an appeal of the refusal to order a second arrest. The failure of Maritime Administration to release the ship would have opened the staff of Maritime Administration to contempt of court proceedings and potential imprisonment if found liable.
Admiralty laws of ancient vintage exist in relation to ships’ accidents. They provide for the release of ships when arrested as a result of an accident upon the lodgment of security. Every court will do so once it is satisfied that appropriate security, in modern shipping practice, an LOU, is lodged. These shipping laws exist all over the world and facilitate the stability of international shipping. The Government cannot defy those laws and detain a ship when an accident occurs if the court orders its release. If it continues to do so, as it has done in the past, ships will no longer come to Guyana or shipping fees will escalate to unheard of proportions.
Sincerely,
Cameron & Shepherd Attorneys-at-
Law
Hari Ramkarran,
Josephine Whitehead,
Rafiq Khan,
Nikhil Ramkarran,
Kamal Ramkarran.
