This will be precedent-setting case.
The victims, along with the families of those killed, could be seeking damages likely to amount to millions of dollars, the Journal has learnt.
Four persons were tragically killed and more than 25 others injured – many of them seriously – in the high sea smash up that became a national tragedy.
Among the attorneys with reported instructions to file a suit are Sidney Collie, who represents one victim; and Norwood Rolle of Lockhart and Munroe, whose firm represents several victims and family members.
While Mr. Rolle confirmed Tuesday that he is an attorney in the matter, he said he wished not to comment on any reported plans to sue.
The Journal has discovered Mr. Collie plans to bring the action against various parties, including the Port Department; the Attorney General’s Office; the Minister of Transport; the companies that own the MV Sea Hauler and MV United Star, and the captains of those vessels.
Claiming that there was “gross negligence of the highest order”, Mr. Collie said he will not rest until his client, Gayle Roker, 28, is compensated. He said someone has to pay for all the pain and suffering she has had to endure since the accident.
Ms. Roker reportedly saved a young baby in the midst of the disaster.
Last year, she told the Wreck Commission investigating the accident she was hit in the back with the long portion of the crane that fell from the Sea Hauler mail boat crushing some of the passengers, after the collision with the barge, the United Star.
“I tried to scream, but [I didn’t have] a voice,” said Ms. Roker, who has a wired collarbone. “I tried to move, but I couldn’t move.”
Ms. Roker, who still suffers excruciating pain as a result of her injuries, said Tuesday she preferred not to relive the nightmare yet again.
But Mr. Collie said, “My client was taking a weekend trip with some friends to Cat Island during the annual August Monday holiday weekend expecting, as usual, to have a good voyage to Cat Island and to have a good time and to return to Nassau to her family, her children and her life.”
“It is clear to me from the evidence which has come from the Wreck Commission so far that almost every entity involved was negligent in one form or another and because of that negligence her life has been changed and her future wrecked forever.”
Ms. Roker has three children and cannot work due to her injuries..
Mr. Collie said, “She was a young woman with a bright life in front of her prior to this accident. Because of the extent of her injuries she will never be able to enjoy the quality of life that we are all entitled to and someone has to pay for that. That is what we are all about. [She has medical expenses.] She shouldn’t have to absorb that. Either the state and the owners and operators of those boats or agencies of the state must all pay for that. We are not going to rest until she is properly compensated without litigation, but if we have to go to litigation we will.”
He plans to claim for injuries, loss of income, loss of future earnings, pain and suffering, medical expenses and loss of amenities or the ability to enjoy a high quality of life.
While the Commission continues to drag on, Mr. Collie believes that much of what has been revealed already is evidence of gross negligence.
His case is expected to include correspondence between officials of the Port Department confirming that the Sea Hauler was overloaded on the night in question.
In a letter dated September 15, 2003, Ian Ford, tug engineer at the Department, wrote to Port Controller Captain Anthony Allens saying that he took a head count on August 1 and found that there were 196 people onboard the boat.
But a letter from Assistant Port Controller Cyril Roker on July 1, about one month before the collision, gave approval for only 100 persons.
Other documents obtained by the Journal speak of the horror and confusion rescue teams discovered on the morning of the collision.
Shortly after rescue efforts started, a Coast Guard officer reported “a phone call from BASRA reporting a collision between a passenger carrying mail ferry and what they believe [to be] a barge. People are trapped inside the ferry and the ferry is taking on water. [There are] several fatalities and severe injuries are reported.”
Shortly after, there was another report: “I got in touch with the 1st mate (Mike Harris) from the Sea Hauler. Their estimates are six fatalities, one leg amputation, one serious spinal injury, and numerous other serious injuries, like broken bones etc. We know there’s at least 15 people who need medical care.”
Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
