A marine police officer’s account of a 25-minute journey to the deadly July 18 Anse Cochon collision drew sustained questioning at the Maritime Commission of Inquiry which continued Wednesday. Commissioners also examined search coordination, an unrecovered life jacket and the briefing arrangements after the emergency.
Acting Corporal Jn Marie testified that he left the Castries marine base aboard Papa Oscar 8 shortly after midnight on Sunday, July 19, following instructions from Corporal Stanislaus.
He said his supervisor informed him of both a collision and a separate robbery report. Papa Oscar 10, commanded by Stanislaus, departed first, with Jn Marie’s vessel following approximately one or two minutes later.
Despite that short departure gap, Jn Marie said his journey took approximately 25 minutes. Commissioners contrasted his account with earlier testimony that Papa Oscar 10 reached the area within five to 10 minutes.
Jn Marie attributed his travel time to the vessel’s speed and the precautions he took to protect his crew and avoid endangering anyone who might have been in the water.
The precise sequence remained unclear in parts of his evidence. He placed his arrival at approximately 12:30 a.m., but also estimated that a conversation held about five minutes after his arrival occurred around 12:45 a.m.
On reaching the bay, Jn Marie said he met Papa Oscar 10 carrying an injured foreign national recovered from the sailing vessel Ibis. Stanislaus told him the person was bleeding profusely from the neck and required urgent medical attention.
Papa Oscar 10 returned to Castries with the injured person while Jn Marie’s crew began searching.
Jn Marie testified that Ocean Angel 1 and Finding Nemo were already searching the area. He said Ocean Angel 1 captain Ron Nicholas informed him that people recovered following the collision had been transported for medical treatment and that others remained unaccounted for.
By his arrival, Jn Marie said, he did not witness people shouting for help or the scenes of distress described in earlier testimony from survivors.
Commissioners questioned how the police search was coordinated with the civilian vessels. Jn Marie said he had no further discussions with their captains after the initial exchange with Nicholas and could not recall when the two boats left.
He also testified that he saw small debris and a life jacket during the search. The jacket was not retrieved, and he did not know whether anyone else subsequently collected it.
Papa Oscar 10 later returned and searched alongside his vessel. Shortly after 1 a.m., its crew recovered what appeared to be a lifeless body and returned to base to seek medical assistance. Jn Marie said his own crew recovered no one.
Asked about the search method, he said officers used a “creeping line” pattern. He described moderate sea conditions and a period of rain lasting approximately 15 minutes.
Commissioners also examined whether either responding police vessel travelled to Soufrière or Canaries that night. Jn Marie said neither did, while stressing that he could speak directly to his own assignment: searching for missing people.
He said Papa Oscar 4 arrived around daybreak and later towed Ibis to Castries. Although he initially described the vessel as assisting with the search, under further questioning he said he did not see it conduct a search.
Questions also focused on whether all personnel involved in the response subsequently met to review the operation.
Jn Marie described shift briefings and a dive briefing, but said he did not see a single briefing bringing together the responding crews, divers and operations-room personnel.
He returned to the area on Monday morning for another search, which yielded no further discoveries.
The acting corporal also told the commission that his commander offered him counselling, which he declined. Two shift colleagues had mentioned receiving similar offers, he said.
At the close of his testimony, the chair thanked Jn Marie for his evidence and said he had handled the detailed questioning well.
