Summary

• The body of 21-year-old seaman Ravindra ‘Videsh’ Bissoondyal has been found near the mouth of the Demerara River after he was reported missing.
• Bissoondyal had told his mother during a phone call that the barge he was on was sinking.
• His decomposed body was discovered about 10 nautical miles offshore and is awaiting a post-mortem as investigations continue.

 

THE body of a 21-year-old seaman who had been reported missing after a barge allegedly sank offshore has been found in waters near the mouth of the Demerara River.

He has been identified as Ravindra Bissoondyal, also known as “Videsh”.

Police said the incident is believed to have occurred between March 9 and March 11 in the Atlantic Ocean, north of the coast off Buxton on the East Coast of Demerara.

Bissoondyal worked for a local shipping company. Although he was trained as an engineer, he was reportedly serving as a barge attendant on a tug at the time.

His mother, Mohini Persaud, said her son visited her home on March 7 to collect his life jacket and told her he had to board a vessel the following day to accompany a shipment of molasses.

Persaud said he later called her on Monday and reported that the barge he was on was sinking. During the call, he asked her to contact the Coast Guard and Lighthouse authorities to report the emergency.

The matter was reported to the Reliance Police Station and later to the Guyana Coast Guard in New Amsterdam.

Police said that on Wednesday the decomposed body of a man was found floating about 10 nautical miles from the mouth of the Demerara River. The remains were later identified by Bissoondyal’s mother.

The body has been taken to a mortuary where it is awaiting a post-mortem examination. (CMC)