{"id":31098,"date":"2026-07-26T11:13:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T15:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/?p=31098"},"modified":"2026-07-26T11:13:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T15:13:29","slug":"mv-barima-tragedy-maritime-law-expert-appointed-to-coi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/mv-barima-tragedy-maritime-law-expert-appointed-to-coi\/","title":{"rendered":"MV Barima Tragedy: Maritime law expert appointed to COI"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Sunday announced the appointment of Trinidad and Tobago Senior Attorney-at-Law Nyree Dawn Alfonso to the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the MV Barima tragedy.

Alfonso is the Managing Partner of N.D. Alfonso & Co. and brings more than 36 years of experience in commercial, maritime, insurance and public law. She is admitted to practise in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Grenada, St Lucia and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (St. Kitts and Nevis).

Widely recognised for her expertise in Admiralty and Maritime Law, Ms Alfonso has represented clients in complex ship arrests, maritime disputes, salvage operations, collisions, marine casualty claims, marine insurance matters and arbitrations. She has also advised international shipowners, insurers, Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Clubs and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on maritime matters.

Her academic credentials include a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies, a Master of Laws in Commercial and Corporate Law from King’s College London, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Maritime Law (Merit) from Lloyd’s Maritime Academy.

Throughout her career, Ms Alfonso has served in several senior leadership roles, including Chairperson of the First Citizens Bank Group and Paria Fuel Trading Company Limited. She has also worked extensively to protect the rights of seafarers through more than three decades of collaboration with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), helping secure wages and repatriation for hundreds of foreign seafarers.

Her specialised areas of practice include maritime casualty claims, ship collisions, salvage operations, charterparty disputes, vessel arrests, marine insurance, port management, maritime arbitration and advisory services on maritime losses and claims.
Ms Alfonso is one of five members appointed to the Commission of Inquiry, which is tasked with establishing the facts surrounding the MV Barima tragedy and making recommendations to strengthen maritime safety and help prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Commission is chaired by Godfrey Smith and includes Nyree Dawn Alfonso, Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Hayden Pritchard, and Dr Andrzej Jasionowski.
See below for full credentials of Nyree Alfonso:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CURRENT POSITIONS
\u2022 Managing Partner, N.D. Alfonso & Co. (1991\u2013Present)
\u2022 Chairperson, Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd. (2025\u20132026)
\u2022 Notary Public (2018\u2013Present)
\u2022 Director, Advertising and Printing Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd.
\u2022 Director\/Corporate Secretary, Firearms Training Institute Ltd.
\u2022 Director, Trinidad and Tobago Security Services Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADMITTED TO PRACTISE
\u2022 Trinidad and Tobago
\u2022 Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (St. Kitts & Nevis)
\u2022 Guyana
\u2022 Grenada
\u2022 Saint Lucia
EDUCATION
\u2022 LL.B. (Hons.), University of the West Indies
\u2022 Legal Education Certificate, Council of Legal Education
\u2022 LL.M. in Commercial and Corporate Law, King’s College London
\u2022 Postgraduate Diploma in Maritime Law (Merit), Lloyd’s Maritime Academy\/London Metropolitan University
\u2022 Accredited Director designation
EXPERIENCE
Senior Attorney-at-Law with over 36 years’ experience in:
\u2022 Commercial law
\u2022 Maritime law
\u2022 Insurance law
\u2022 Public law
\u2022 Constitutional law
\u2022 Industrial relations law
Recognised for expertise in:
\u2022 Admiralty law
\u2022 Insurance litigation
\u2022 Extradition proceedings
\u2022 Judicial review
\u2022 Commercial disputes
Experience before:
\u2022 Magistrates’ Court
\u2022 High Court
\u2022 Court of Appeal
\u2022 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
\u2022
CORE PRACTICE AREAS
\u2022 Admiralty & Maritime Law
\u2022 Marine, Life & General Insurance Law
\u2022 Commercial & Corporate Law
\u2022 Judicial Review & Constitutional Law
\u2022 Extradition Proceedings
\u2022 Industrial Relations & Employment Law
\u2022 Personal Injury
\u2022 Commercial Negotiations & Contractual Disputes
DIRECTORSHIPS
\u2022 Chairperson\/President, First Citizens Holdings Limited
\u2022 Chairperson, First Citizens Bank Limited
\u2022 Chairperson, First Citizens (St. Lucia) Limited
\u2022 Chairperson, First Citizens Financial Services (St. Lucia) Limited
\u2022 Chairperson, First Citizens Investment Services Limited
\u2022 Chairperson, First Citizens Brokerage & Advisory Services Limited
\u2022 Chairperson, First Citizens Investment Services (Barbados) Limited
\u2022 Chairperson, First Citizens Costa Rica S.A.
\u2022 Chairperson, First Citizens Bank (Barbados) Limited
Additional appointments include:
\u2022 Vice President\/Public Relations Officer \u2013 Lange Park Management Security Committee
\u2022 Director \u2013 PowerGen
\u2022 Legal Adviser \u2013 Central Trinidad Pistol and Rifle Club
\u2022 Chairperson \u2013 Insurance Investigations Services Ltd.
\u2022 Director \u2013 Natural Foods Ltd.
\u2022 Corporate Secretary \u2013 Caribbean Institute Forensic Investigations Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PUBLICATION
\u2022 Sole contributor for Trinidad and Tobago in The Official Guide to Ship Registries (1998) \u2013 Review of Commercial & Shipping Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPECIALISED AREAS OF PRACTICE
\u2022 Judicial arrest and release of vessels
\u2022 Maritime claims
\u2022 Collision damage
\u2022 Casualties at sea
\u2022 Marine insurance claims
\u2022 Marine cargo claims
\u2022 Salvage operations
\u2022 Tug and tow disputes
\u2022 Contracts of affreightment
\u2022 Charterparty disputes
\u2022 Bills of lading
\u2022 Ship sales and purchases
\u2022 Port management
\u2022 Maritime operations
\u2022 International trade financing
\u2022 Representation of international crews through the International Transport Workers’ Federation
\u2022 Representation of regional seafarers
\u2022 Advisory services to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on maritime losses and claims
\u2022 Maritime arbitration
\u2022 Facilitator and trainer in maritime arbitration and mediation
EXPERTISE
\u2022 Strategic legal adviser
\u2022 High-level negotiation and dispute resolution
\u2022 Governance, risk and regulatory compliance
\u2022 Crisis management
\u2022 Commercial law
\u2022 Insurance law
\u2022 Admiralty law
\u2022 Labour law
\u2022 Public law
\u2022 Constitutional law
\u2022 Personal injury litigation
\u2022 Commercial negotiations
\u2022 Advocacy and courtroom litigation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Sunday announced the appointment of Trinidad and Tobago Senior Attorney-at-Law Nyree Dawn Alfonso to the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the MV Barima tragedy.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[350],"tags":[488,1161,1159,370,1151,412,405],"class_list":["post-31098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-488","tag-coi","tag-commission-of-inquiry","tag-guyana","tag-mv-barima","tag-ncn-guyana","tag-ncn-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31098"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31100,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31098\/revisions\/31100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncnguyana.com\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}