MV Barima tragedy-27 bodies recovered, 83 persons still missing, 69 rescued

…sunken vessel located; divers, including French
troops, on site to continue search

…as Govt sends home entire T&HD team that loaded vessel

Following Saturday night’s capsizing of MV Barima off the Essequibo Coast, authorities have since recovered 27 bodies, including those of four children, while some 83 persons are still missing and the number of survivors was revised to 69. These revelations were made by Prime Minister, Brigadier (Retired) Mark Phillips, who is leading the Government emergency response mission, during a press briefing on Monday evening. According to the PM, “At this stage of the operations, the number of rescued persons, including passengers and crew, is now 69, and a total of 27 bodies have been recovered as of now. The latest report suggests an additional 83 persons are still to be found.” This revised figure of 179 persons on board the vessel comes after authorities discovered on Sunday that nearly half of the persons rescued that day were not listed on the passenger manifest generated by the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD). Initially, it was reported that there were 116 passengers, along with 17 crew members and some 268 tonnes of cargo, on board the vessel when it departed Port Georgetown on Saturday afternoon, heading for Port Kaituma in the North-West District (NWD), Region One (Barima-Waini). But the manifest was found to be grossly inaccurate after only 35 of the reported 67 persons who were rescued from the sunken vessel on Sunday were listed on the document.

Revised figures
This discovery led to the launch of a comprehensive investigation, which included efforts to determine an accurate count of the persons on board the sunken vessel.
“We’ve put together an investigative body, and they would have worked overnight [on Sunday]. And coming out of the work that they did overnight in terms of reviewing the footage as the boat was loading with the passengers and cargo, we arrive at a figure of 179 [persons on board including the crew],” the PM noted.
In fact, he added that it is unlikely that there would be a major change to this 179 – a figure that also included a revised survivor list of 69, that is, two more than the previous day. Phillips explained that the additional two persons are crew members, who were assisting with the search operation after being rescued, and were inadvertently left off the initial list of survivors. In addition to discrepancies with the passenger manifest, authorities had also discovered on Sunday that the captain of the vessel, along with at least two crew members – the first engineer and a sailor – who were rescued, tested positive for cannabis. They were arrested and up to press time on Monday, they remained in Police custody. PM Phillips said during the press briefing that the ongoing investigation would determine what, if any, charges are laid against these three men.

Team sent off
Both the PM and Public Works Minister Juan Edghill had previously assured that those found responsible for this incident would be held accountable.

In fact, the entire management team responsible for the loading, dispatch, and overall management of the MV Barima prior to its departure from Georgetown has been sent off from duty. On Sunday evening, Minister Edghill had convened a late-night meeting with the senior management staff of the T&HD, which manages ferry operations in Guyana. During that engagement, the team that was on duty for Saturday’s loading of the ferry was formally notified of the suspension and the administrative steps moving forward. According to the Public Works Ministry, this decision was taken to ensure the absolute integrity of the upcoming investigation into the horrific ferry incident that has left dozens of persons, including children missing, and feared dead.

“By removing the team from the workplace, the Government intends to prevent any potential tampering with or interference in evidence and materials, thereby ensuring a completely fair and unprejudiced outcome,” the Ministry stated on Monday. Additionally, video footage from the Kingston Goods Wharf, where MV Barima was loaded and departed from, has already been extracted by the Guyana Police Force for a comprehensive review as part of the ongoing investigation.

Bodies recovered
Meanwhile, of the 27 bodies recovered since Saturday night’s tragedy, four are those of children. At the time of the press briefing, PM Phillips said the bodies of six male adults and four female adults had been identified, and the remaining bodies were still being processed. “The bodies are being photographed. They’re stored and we’re going through the whole identification process. By our next briefing, we’ll be able to let you know a number as to how many have been identified and the families informed. There are bodies that were identified and already families are informed, but I will give you that figure the next briefing,” the PM told this newspaper on Monday evening.
The bodies recovered are being taken to Charity, where a designated area has been set up for family members to go identify them.

MV Barima located
Nevertheless, Phillips contended that the search and rescue operations is still ongoing with continued support from stakeholders, including the private sector and local fisherfolk. In fact, it was Haresh Singh, a fisherman from the Essequibo Coast – who, along with others, had been critical to this search and rescue exercise since the distress call was received from the vessel – who discovered the location of the sunken ferry on Monday. Singh, who had rescued a number of survivors on Sunday, returned to the location on Monday and observed items suspected to be from the capsized vessel floating on the water’s surface. He subsequently alerted the authorities and the Guyana Defence Force’s Coast Guard, accompanied by a vessel supplied by ExxonMobil Guyana and the Vreed-en-Hoop Shorebase Inc (VEHSI), Sealand Survey’s Gilligan Island, confirmed the presence of the ferry.
According to the PM, the vessel was found resting on the seabed about nine miles off the shore of Devonshire Castle, Essequibo Coast – in the vicinity of the location where the MV Barima had initially sent out a distress signal on Saturday just before midnight. Phillips noted that experts from the Maritime Administration (MARAD) have indicated that with a ship like the MV Barima, there could be pockets of air and possibly persons trapped alive. “You may very well have people alive there… There’s always an opportunity, always a chance of saving a few lives. And that’s why we insist that this remains a search and rescue operation,” the PM emphasised.

Regional assistance
Since the discovery of the vessel, assets, including divers, have been mobilised at the location. In fact, Guyana has received critical support from regional neighbours including from French Guiana, which has sent a 15-member military team to assist with ongoing search, rescue and recovery operations. The French troops, led by Lieutenant Commander Alexis Touboul, arrived on the Essequibo Coast on Monday and includes 12 specialist divers, two medics, and one mechanic. PM Phillips told reporters that the French divers have joined the local team offshore and were assessing conditions to determine whether to go under water overnight or await daylight today. The divers eventually decided to dive overnight and have been bringing up bodies. In addition, the Trinidad and Tobago Government has also deployed additional search and dive capabilities to Guyana to assist with these efforts.