The tug Sir Gaëtan of the Mauritius Ports Authority (MPA), which sank in the night of August 31, 2020 to September 1, 2020, had no certificate and was not “classified”. This was confirmed by the director of shipping, Alain Donat during the work of the Court of Investigation to shed light on the circumstances of this tragedy, this Monday, July 12 in the Supreme Court.
This work is led by Gerard Angoh, the president and his two assessors, Captains Mahendra Babooa and Jacques Goilot.
Later in the day, during his deposition, the port director, Shekhar Suntah said that in 2019, the authorities had decided to undertake renovation work on the tug Sir Gaëtan, except that according to him, the work could not be completed.
As a reminder, the Sir Gaëtan was tasked with recovering the barge Ami Constant, which was involved in the cleanup after the grounding of the MV Wakashio at Pte d’Esny.
On the way back, the tug had to face bad weather and rough seas. The barge punctured the hull of the Sir Gaëtan, causing the tragedy off Poudre d’Or. Three of the eight people on board lost their lives, Sylvain Addison, Sujit Kumar Seewoo and Laval Lindsay Plassan. The tug’s captain, Moswadeck Bheenick was reported missing.
It should also be known that three technical reports have clearly demonstrated that the Sir Gaetan should not have been in service since 2019. Built in 1993 by Husumer Schiffswerft, based in Germany, the tug had a pull (Bollard pull) of 30 tons.
