On May 31, 2010, news broke that
another ship had wrecked right off the shores of Harper City, Maryland County
in Liberia. Women, men and children died.
From 2004 to May 31, 2010, record
shows seven (7) ships wrecked with Marylanders on board.
All of the doomed ships were
either heading to Maryland or departing the port of Harper in Maryland with
business women carrying their investments.
Out of the seven wrecked ships,
the first wrecked along the Bong Mines Pier in Monrovia. Because it did not go
far from the Pier, from information received, lives were saved and some goods
and personal belongings rescued.
The second ship wrecked right
behind the Executive Mansion in Monrovia.
Essentially, two ships wrecked
in the Monrovia area. Out of the two ships that wrecked in the Monrovia area, no
fatality reported. But goods, investments and personal belongings got destroyed;
remnants currently sit in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean as we opine.
The third wreck occurred in
Greenville, Sinoe County. Although no one died, an elderly woman lost three of
her middle fingers. They were chopped off. To date, she has two fingers on her
right hand.
The fourth shipwreck took
place in Harper City. It happened few yards away from the port of Harper. The
ship, we are told, was departing the port of Harper when it experienced a leak.
The wreck was so fast the vessel began to nosedive. All the passengers were
left in a limbo. Luckily, the vessel had not gone too far. So the fishermen
boats were there on time. A total number
of fifty passengers were rescued. But their investments, personal belongings
and everything else went down along with the vessel deep into the belly of the Atlantic
Ocean.
The fifth shipwrecked happened
in Little Bassa, Grand Bassa County. Whatever the case must have been, people saw
the ship leaning sideways. The next thing they realized, the vessel began to
fall apart at every point. The passengers began to run for safety but had
nowhere to run. Some of the passengers jumped into the Ocean and others grabbed
onto mattresses to keep afloat.
A little girl by the name of
Princes Merriam, aged 13, was crushed to death by one of the hanging cranes on
the vessel. Her mother survived. According to her mother, Little Princes was
sitting closed to her along with her three-year old son when the crane came
tumbling down on Princes. She (the mother) legs were trapped under another
container. So she could do nothing to help her 13-year old daughter and
three-year old son.
Little Princes died. As record
holds, she is the only casualty. The Captain and crew of the vessel have never
admitted how many passengers were truly on board. That means, if there were any
other humans on board, they must have perished into the Ocean and cannot be
accounted for. All the investments of the citizens and residents to date sit in
the belly of the Atlantic Ocean.
The seventh ship wrecked in
Harper City.
Again, the passengers were
lucky; for lack of a better expression. The vessel had just departed the Port
when it began to leak. As soon as it was discovered that the vessel was
leaking, most part of it was already heading towards the bottom of the Atlantic.
This time, no one died. Fishermen were closer. They rescued the passengers except
their goods, investments and personal belongings.
The eighth ship that wrecked was
the last. It wrecked on May 31, 2010. It was the last straw!
From what I know, it wrecked
right off the shores of Harper. All indications are, it did arrive in Harper
waters. Understandably, the Captain decided not to dock at the Port. I am told
he wanted to dock the next morning. And so, he stationed several yards away
from the Port.
How I know this?
The President of the Maryland
Women, Inc. Madam Clara Ayo Cole-Nyema was on board. And she made series of
cell phone calls before the ship went down. She called her nephew. And she called
me too. She said the vessel was already in Harper. And she could see one of the
Anderson’s big buildings from where they were docaked. But she said the captain
told them he was docking on the Port in the morning. By this time it was about
10pm. She told her nephew she was hungry and was craving for ‘Pepper-soup.” She
sounded very relaxed on the phone. So she asked him to make available some
money to one of her friends to cook the soup for her. So that as soon as she
got home she would drink the soup. The nephew did. And the lady cooked the
soup. Later on Ayo called again. This time she was sounding pushy. She complained
the ship was leaning sideways. She asked her nephew to find the Fanti fishermen
for rescue mission. While talking, the phone cut off. Apparently, it was
network problem.
Few minutes later Ayo called
again. This time on a different number. She was pleading for immediate help.
Her nephew and husband got scarred. They hopped on a motor bike and moved
towards the Port. I joined them too. We all stopped on the over-path near the
Tubman Mansion up the Cape. From there we saw the lights of the ship. On the
phone, we told her we were looking at the ship’s lights. That’s when she got
upset and raised her voice, “I did not call you to see the ship’s lights. I say
call for help.” Suddenly the nephew and husband hopped on their motor bike and
off they went to Old Krutown.
Their negotiation with the
Fanti yielded no fruits. Ayo kept alarming on the phone until the husband and nephew
got confused. They ran back to the location where they could see the ship. And
what they saw actually killed their spirits: the lights had disappeared. Where
did the lights go? To ascertain that information, they called Ayo back on her cell.
All the numbers she called on were all off. All attempts by her husband and
nephew to keep calling paid no dividend. The result was evident. The ship wrecked
and sank in no time. Ayo was assumed dead.
These stories are a stark
reminder of the continue plaque of Maryland County for want of good roads and
leadership.
I am Thomas G. Bedell; I
write, work and speak from on the “ground’ in Liberia
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