GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Rescue teams extended their search efforts for missing passengers of the capsized MV Barima ferry into Monday, following the weekend disaster that has already thrown the South American nation’s lax maritime safety regulations into sharp relief. As the operation enters its third day, hopes of pulling more survivors from the Atlantic Ocean are fading rapidly, with government officials confirming only two fatalities have been recovered so far and the true number of people on board remains unknown.
The decades-old vessel — constructed more than 80 years ago, and most recently dry-docked for major repairs earlier this year with another round of major work scheduled for October — capsized Saturday evening off Guyana’s Essequibo Coast. It was traveling from the capital Georgetown to Port Kaituma, a remote community in the country’s northwest region near the Venezuelan border, a route heavily relied on by locals due to the country’s sparse overland road network and lower cargo costs compared to domestic air travel.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips confirmed to reporters Sunday evening that official records list 116 passengers and 17 crew members on the vessel’s manifest, but preliminary investigations indicate the actual number of people aboard was far higher. Of the 67 people rescued from the capsizing, 35 do not appear on the official passenger list at all. This discrepancy lines up with longstanding complaints from passengers about a pervasive informal scheme at state-owned piers, where ferry clerks sell unrecorded off-the-books seats to passengers for cash, skirting official safety limits and manifest requirements for extra personal income.
The revelations of misconduct do not end there: the rescued captain and at least one other crew member have tested positive for marijuana, and both are currently in police custody as authorities open a formal criminal investigation into the incident. Phillips emphasized that the government is launching an urgent, full-scale probe covering every factor that may have contributed to the disaster, from manifest accuracy and cargo loading practices to compliance with mandatory safety rules and the pre-voyage conduct of the captain and crew.
“Let me be absolutely clear: Where negligence, misconduct or criminal wrongdoing is established, those responsible will face the full force of the law,” Phillips said. “There will be no exceptions and no tolerance for actions that placed innocent lives at risk.”
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill described the incident as the worst marine disaster Guyana has seen in decades, saying he was devastated by the tragedy and the failures that allowed it to happen. “We have a zero tolerance for members of the crew drinking or smoking while at work. And for us to have positive tests from the captain, this is serious,” Edghill said. “People’s lives are at risk, and those matters will be dealt with.”
Edghill echoed the prime minister’s condemnation of the unrecorded passenger scheme, noting that the inaccurate manifest has already hampered critical search and rescue operations. “Nobody for the want of a few extra dollars can cheat a system and compromise the entire search-and-rescue operation,” he said. “To be confronted with a reality that despite an official manifest given to us, persons who were rescued were not manifested, that is a criminal action.”
Multiple passengers who survived the disaster reported on social media that they noticed water seeping into the vessel’s cargo area long before the MV Barima capsized, as the aging ferry struggled along its coastal route to Port Kaituma.