A weeping and emotionally distressed Catherine Balkissoon, Paria's acting technical lead, told the Commission of Enquiry (CoE) into the February 25 diving tragedy that the company did the best it could to save the lives of those involved. But she said that every day, she wonders if there was something more she could have done to save the lives of the four divers who died.

On February 25, Kazim Ali Jr, Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry, Rishi Nagassar and Christopher Boodram were doing maintenance on a 30-inch pipeline at Berth 6, belonging to Paria Fuel Trading Co Ltd, Pointe-a-Pierre, but were sucked into the pipeline. Only Boodram survived.

The incident occurred around 2.45pm and Balkissoon said she arrived at the scene at 6 pm. She said she went there with a "hope in (her) heart" that the men were still alive and burst into tears more than once during her testimony.

Rescue divers from diving company LMCS, including Michael Kurban - son of Fyzal Kurban - previously testified saying Paria instructed them not to enter the pipeline to attempt a rescue because it was too risky. This has since been confirmed by Paria officials. However, Michael Kurban entered the pipeline briefly and retrieved an air tank which was blocking camera access inside of it.

A major factor into the accident is a phenomenon called Delta P or "differential pressure," which refers to the movement of water from an area of high pressure to low pressure. It is a known hazard when it comes to diving.

Lead counsel for the CoE Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, asked Balkissoon if Paria has a written, documented incident command system for emergencies.

She said, "Yes, we have a policy."

This policy was then shown on a screen.

It outlined that the system is activated upon notification of an emergency and "promotes communications and co-ordination, and all responders must understand the system and their duties within it."

Its key duties were listed as establishing and directing a command structure that suits the needs of the incident, notifying all affected organisations and individuals, and co-ordinating all response activities and resources.

It said the operations section chief should direct tactical operations, the planning section chief should assess the "probable course of events and assemble and evaluate information needed to prepare incident action plans," while the logistics section chief should assemble personnel, resources and equipment needed to respond to the incident.

"All incidents require management via an action plan," it says.

But Balkissoon said the company did not have an emergency plan in place for the possibility of a Delta P occurring within a pipeline. She added Paria still has not developed an emergency plan to deal with that possibility.

Asked by CoE chairman Jerome Lynch if she thinks such a plan should be developed, she said Paria could "engineer out the possibility of the impact of a Delta P," so a set plan isn't necessary.

Lynch then asked what if "engineering out" the possibilities failed, and Balk