The Maritime Commission of Inquiry investigating the boat crash that killed four people off Anse Cochon put a blunt question to Acting Sergeant Mario Chicot on Monday. How could a captain involved in the collision still be at the helm 11 years after his licence expired? Chicot said marine police check seven or eight vessels on a typical patrol day, but he could not recall a recent case in which the unit charged anyone with operating a vessel without a valid boat master’s licence.
Chicot, who has served in the Police Marine Unit for about 16 years, said the Maritime Division shares lists of vessels that are out of compliance and that officers log the vessels they board. He said marine police can bring charges or refer cases to the Maritime Division for administrative action. In some cases, officers issue warnings and send vessels back to port.
Commission chair Mario Michel said evidence before the inquiry suggested operators were still carrying passengers without valid licences. He pressed for the Marine Unit’s boarding logs, which the commission had previously requested and was still waiting to receive. Chicot said he could provide them by Friday, November 13.
The hearing also turned to life jackets. Chicot recalled speaking at the Owen King EU Hospital with an Ocean Angel passenger who said she had been thrown into the sea and had been wearing no life jacket. He said he saw cuts on her face. Chicot testified that vessels must carry a life jacket for everyone on board, but passengers are generally under no requirement to wear one. Michel questioned what protection that rule offered if passengers entered the water without one.
Chicot said police were still trying to establish how many people had been aboard, how many had been rescued and how many were missing in the hours after the collision. A drone swept the bay and coastline for nearly two hours without locating two people who were still unaccounted for. A dive team later searched waters up to 50 feet deep. Chicot said both men were subsequently found floating in the same general area.
Investigators had an approximate location for the collision, Chicot said, explaining that currents and drift made it difficult to pinpoint the impact. From the damage he examined, he believed the vessels had been travelling at considerable speed. He said the capsized vessel had struck something bow-first. The Ocean Angel had lost its bow, leaving him unable to say where it had been struck.
Alongside the boarding logs, the commission requested written procedures for vessel inspections and maritime investigations. Michel said the records would help commissioners assess how marine police respond when they find operators carrying passengers without the required licences.
