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CCNTV6
  • 14 minutes ago
Questions are being raised about maritime safety and the enforcement of regulations following Sunday's collision involving two vessels at sea, in which a child is reportedly involved.Several people were injured, while others remained missing at sea up to newstime.

Rynessa Cutting reports.
Transcript
00:00Calls for greater maritime enforcement and oversight following Sunday's incident at sea,
00:06which left multiple people missing injuries and five people still unaccounted for at sea.
00:11Meantime, friends and family of the victims are calling for justice amid reports that one of the boats was being
00:17operated by a minor.
00:19A child, said to be about 12 years of age, is now at the center of questions surrounding Sunday's collision
00:26at sea,
00:27following claims that the minor may have been operating one of the vessels involved.
00:32The collision reportedly caused the other vessel to split upon impact, leaving several people injured and five persons missing at
00:41sea.
00:41However, TV6 News has not independently verified who was operating either vessel at the time of the collision.
00:50What is the account of the situation that was given to you by the survivors?
00:54Right, so I was informed by the survivors that it was in fact a minor driving.
01:00The boats, I think they said a 12-year-old, but I wasn't there, so I don't know for sure.
01:06They would have run into some issues with the vessel that collided with them on three occasions, three consecutive occasions.
01:13And on the third occasion is when they impacted.
01:16They hit the side of the vessel, the boat went up in the sky and split in two, and the
01:23last thing they remember is they were all in the water.
01:25They heard Kiana screaming.
01:27She screamed twice for help, and by the time they got there, they couldn't find her.
01:33The missing have been identified as Kiana Seachan, Amir Ali, Anil Aye, Titus Augustin, and Lorenzo, a.k.a. Fluff.
01:44At least 14 people were on board the impacted vessel.
01:48Two went home last night.
01:52I know that Kiana's father, Marcus Seachan, he's in critical condition in the ICU currently, and there are three that
02:00I can confirm is actually transferred to Portus Bay in general.
02:04The incident is said to have occurred at about 6.30 p.m. on Sunday in the vicinity of Staubel's
02:11Bay.
02:12Relatives also provided TV6 with videos they said were downloaded from a child's social media profile before the footage was
02:20allegedly removed.
02:21The videos appear to show a young child operating a vessel in the company of an adult and other children.
02:28In one clip, the child appears to stare the vessel using his foot.
02:33TV6 has not independently verified when or where the videos were recorded or whether they are connected to Sunday's incident.
02:41Authorities confirmed the two vessels involved in the incident were a 28-foot Bowen pleasure craft named Bambaleo and a
02:5029-foot Chandel vessel named Belbagai, the latter of which sunk upon impact.
02:56Relatives of the victims say they are disappointed in how the matter is being handled.
03:01An accident on the sea is handled just like an accident on the road, and we are surprised to know,
03:08we were informed that the people of the other vessel have been released.
03:13Nobody was held, and the names have not been released of who was actually driving this vessel, just us.
03:22So we are very concerned about how the situation has been handled so far, and the fact that literally no
03:28relevant authorities has contacted any of us, and we've been here camping out overnight.
03:34Have you all seen perhaps the Coast Guard conducting searches or anything?
03:38Yes, we have seen them this morning. Obviously, last night was too dark, so we understand, but this morning we
03:44did see them on sea searching.
03:47Meantime, President of the Marine Services of Trinidad and Tobago, Jesse James, says regulations are coming which will help to
03:56prevent tragedies such as this from occurring in the future.
04:00Every person, very soon, it has already started, has to have a license to drive any vessel, a jet ski,
04:11a dinghy, anything that moves on the water, you have to have a license, like a driver's license, right?
04:17So people will have to, this madness that's going on here, where people are giving the children to drive high
04:22-powered outboard engines and things.
04:24It will stop, and the different agencies are in the process of the implementation very, very soon.
04:33And I don't want to speak to exactly what, you know, the authorities will be doing and so on.
04:38They will speak to that, but from a private sector side, from the Marine Services Association, we know that the
04:46small boat license is here, and people will have to abide by it, and there will be consequences.
04:52Sea and Daryl searches are being conducted by the Coast Guard, the TTPS Coastal Support Unit and Air Support Unit,
05:00and the Hunters Search and Rescue Teams.
05:03One visitor to the country has also joined the search, offering the use of his vessel.
05:10What I have seen myself out on the waters is a lot of youngsters operating power, big power boats, and
05:18there is also and should be an age restriction, like for instance, to get a vehicle license to drive on
05:25the road, you must be 17, back home with us, it's 18 years old.
05:29It's the same with a boat, and the amount of big power boats, with big engines, powerful engines, I've been
05:37seeing on these waters with youngsters way younger than 17 or 18.
05:42Renasa Cutting, TV6 News.