MV Barima tragedy – TT, Brazil sending divers to help in search and rescue operations – PM

…warns public against spreading inaccurate information

The Government continues to receive regional assistance in its search and rescue operations following the capsizing of the MV Barima on Saturday night, with Trinidad and Tobago as well as Brazil expected to deploy divers to Guyana today.
This was confirmed by Prime Minister (PM) Mark Phillips during an interview by Starting Point on Tuesday and later reiterated at a press conference in the evening.
“We have assistance being offered, additional assistance being offered from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. So, we expect tomorrow morning (Wednesday) a boat to arrive with additional divers, and sometime tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday), another vessel from Brazil with more divers to help us to recover,” he disclosed. Guyana is already receiving support from French Guiana, which has sent 12 specialist divers, two medics, and one mechanic to assist in the operations. Additionally, Trinidad and Tobago had already deployed its coast guard and a surveillance aircraft to aid in the search and rescue.

Though it has been more than 48 hours since the tragedy, PM Phillips remains hopeful of finding persons alive. “We were advised that a vessel like this will have pockets of air, so they have to go through the vessel and search every compartment of the vessel to see if there’s anybody who’s still clinging to life there,” he noted.
The location of the vessel was on Monday identified by local fishermen; it is sitting on seabed just over nine miles offshore of the Devonshire Castle Flats area in about 50 feet of water.
So far, 53 bodies have been recovered while the count of rescued persons stands at 76. Of the 53 bodies recovered, PM said 26 have been identified by relatives and 11 handed over to families for burial. It is estimated that 179 persons, inclusive of passenger and crew, were on the ferry when it went down, meaning some 50 persons remain unaccounted for. PM Phillips emphasised that the Government will continue to work to ensure every person who was on the vessel is either rescued or their bodies recovered. “The purpose of this operation at this stage is to recover, and as I said, rescue anybody who’s out there and recover all the passengers, all 179 passengers who were there on the vessel,” he noted.

Transparency, inquiry
The PM also made it clear that the Government has been transparent in its handling of the situation, noting that from the time discrepancies were discovered, those facts were shared with the public. He was referring to the discovery of the captain and a crew member being tested positive for marijuana use as well as the uncovering of the manifest being grossly inaccurate. Already, a probe has been launched, examining all of the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragedy, including the accuracy of the passenger manifest, the loading of passengers and cargo, compliance with maritime safety regulations and the conduct of the captain and crew before and during the voyage. PM Phillips assured that the Government “will not leave any stone unturned”.
“We will commission an inquiry as soon as physically possible, because I said as soon as physically possible because the effort now is on dealing with the current situation, which involves rescue and recovery. And the next stage, having done that, is having the investigation started into this incident,” he said. “We are approaching this whole operation in a manner to bring closure to people, but at the same time with a high degree of transparency. We’re not covering up anything,” the PM further posited.

Investigation
The Home Affairs Ministry also confirmed that it is conducting a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding this tragedy and is urging all persons with information that could be useful to the probe to come forward. “We encourage anyone with firsthand information, photographs, videos or any other evidence that may assist investigators to come forward and provide that material directly to the Guyana Police Force (GPF). The cooperation of the public is vital to ensuring that the investigation is thorough and that all relevant facts are established,” the statement reads.