CCJ dismisses appeal in Harbour Bridge collision case

On 19 December 2024, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dismissed an application for special leave to appeal a decision made by the Court of Appeal of Guyana in the case of Andy Duke v The Ship “MT Tradewind Passion”.

This case stemmed from a maritime collision on 8 October 2022, when the Panamanian-flagged fuel tanker MT Tradewind Passion collided with the Demerara Harbour Bridge, causing significant damage and injuring Andy Duke, the bridge ship supervisor on duty.

Duke, who was overseeing operations at the bridge at the time, sustained a fractured leg in the incident. Following the collision, Duke obtained a warrant to arrest the vessel, but the ship’s owners provided a letter of undertaking, securing the vessel’s release. The High Court ordered the release of the ship, a decision that was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Duke then sought special leave to appeal to the CCJ, arguing that the lower courts had erred in accepting the letter of undertaking for the release of the ship. However, the CCJ ruled that the case did not meet the criteria for intervention, as it did not involve a “gross miscarriage of justice” or an egregious legal error.

The CCJ emphasised that it only intervenes when the refusal to grant an appeal by the Court of Appeal results in a serious injustice. In this case, the Court found that the proposed appeal was largely academic and that the application did not comply with the necessary legal requirements. As a result, the application was dismissed.

The CCJ’s decision was made by Justices Anderson, Barrow, and Burgess. Legal representatives included Ms. Jamela Ali SC and Mr. Sanjeev J. Datadin for the applicant, and Mr. Kamal Ramkarran for the respondent.

The collision itself caused substantial disruption, damaging four spans of the Demerara Harbour Bridge and halting traffic for over 40 hours. Preliminary investigations revealed that the vessel had not followed the designated route through the river, leading to the crash.

Despite Duke’s efforts to warn the pilot, the incident left him injured and resulted in significant repairs to the bridge, with the government incurring over $1 billion in damages. A Board of Inquiry was established to investigate the cause of the incident, and the pilot’s licence was later suspended.