The Sir Gaëtan Court of Inquiry brought its share of revelations yesterday. Indeed, the hearing of the skippers of the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA) was eagerly awaited by the panel composed of the president, former judge Gérard Angoh, and his two assessors, captains Mahendra Babooa and Jacques Goilot. The skippers highlighted the shortcomings on the Sir Gaëtan as well as the lack of training for the personnel on board the tugs.
“All tugs have safety equipment. There were security concerns with Sir Gaëtan. Reason for which he was put aside for additional tasks “, explains Koslendr Pothimah, skipper since 2018.” Have you reported the faults, malfunction of equipment on board to the Deputy Port Master (Editor’s note: Kavidev Newoor)? ” Captain Babooa asks him. “Several times. The Sir Gaëtan had flaws. We made reports but we don’t know what happened next “, explains the skipper.
During the hearing, the skippers revealed that on August 8, 2020, Sir Gaëtan lost her anchor while en route to Pointed’Esny. “How did the tug stand then?” asks Captain Babooa. “We made arrangements to get the original anchor back. There was a temporary anchor. A large shackle attached to the anchor table, “replies Prithiviraj Gungaram, who was trained with the National Coast Guard (NCG) and has also been a skipper since 2018. He said the tug was adrift. “We desperately needed something to hold the tug back.” Captain Babooa to add: “Was shackle the most appropriate way?”. “We had no other means at the time,” replied the skipper. We also learn that during a previous operation which consisted of towing the Gulf Star, the Sir Gaëtan had an engine failure.
Like other skippers before him, Prithiviraj Gungaram also listed the shortcomings on board. Thus, we learn that on the Sir Gaëtan, there was no navigation GPS and that there was a magnetic compass on board which was not calibrated. The Navtex was not working to receive weather data, it had to be checked on the cell phone. The echo sounder was not working and a temporary small scale chart was used to track the depth of the water, from Port Louis to the southeast, so the tug did not run aground. The certificate guaranteeing the safety of the Bollard Pull (Editor’s note: traction power) had expired.
The skippers say they have no further training. The last dates back to 2018. They had signed a petition in January 2020 stating that the Sir Gaëtan had flaws. “The Port Master and his deputy were aware of the problem. Nothing has been done, “Nirmal Doodee points out. All agree that the Sir Edouard would have been the most suitable tug to bring back the barge l’Ami Constant on the evening of July 31, due to weather conditions and swells of more than five meters.