Guyana MV Barima Still Unrecovered As COI Exposes Failures

By News Americas Now Staff Writer

News Americas Now, NY, NY, Oct. 21, 2026: Just over three months after the Guyana MV Barima ferry capsized off the Essequibo Coast on July 18, 2026, killing 73 people and leaving 30 unaccounted for, the wreck remains on the ocean floor. A G$1.034 billion salvage contract was awarded to BK International Inc. nearly two weeks ago under National Competitive Bidding, but no firm date has been set for when the vessel will actually be lifted, leaving grieving families with no closure and investigators of a Commission of Inquiry working without full access to the evidence in the ship itself.

THE BID

The contract – covering “Salvaging of Wreck MV Barima (Off Devonshire Castle Flats Essequibo Coast)” – was awarded on October 7 on a “No Cure, No Pay” basis, beating out bids from KMS B.V./Koole Contractors and Industrial Fabrication Inc. The award was not formally announced by the government or the Maritime Administration (MARAD) but only surfaced on the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board’s own website. COI commissioner Dr. Andrzej Jasionowski, a Polish naval architect and forensic marine engineer, told the inquiry only that recovery could take “maybe another week, another two weeks or so.” The tender requires a non-destructive lift, raising the vessel intact onto a barge so investigators can inspect it – a reversal of an earlier government proposal to leave the wreck as a permanent submerged memorial, which had drawn backlash from victims’ families.

The award has drawn its own scrutiny. BK International’s own barge, the Darren B, sank in the Demerara River in 2014 and was left there until the government hired Koole Contractors – the same firm that lost this salvage bid – to clear it at taxpayer expense. Critics have also questioned whether BK meets the tender’s requirement of five to ten years of regional marine salvage experience.

THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

Justice Godfrey Phillip Smith, head of the Guyana MV Barima COI, retorts to MP Odessa Primus on Oct. 7, 2026.

The delay is unfolding against a backdrop of Commission of Inquiry (COI) testimony that has repeatedly exposed how little was recorded, maintained, or trained for before, during, and after the disaster.

Commander of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard, David Shamsudeen, told the COI on Tuesday that digital recordings of communications from the night of the sinking were handed over to defense headquarters – only to reverse himself minutes later when pressed by Commission Chairman Justice Godfrey Smith, admitting that no recordings were actually made at all.

“You’re stating as a positive fact to this commission that digital tracks, voice recordings, and logs were secured… You’re stating that as a positive, verifiable fact?” Justice Smith asked according to the Demerara Waves. Shamsudeen’s answer: “With regards to any recordings, there are no recordings that I know… We are not mandated to do any recordings as well as digital tracks.”

Shamsudeen also would not commit to handing over the Coast Guard’s own post-search-and-rescue report on the incident without first seeking “guidance” from defence headquarters – prompting visible frustration from Justice Smith, who told him the commission’s findings has “to be able to withstand national, regional, and international scrutiny.”

The Coast Guard commander further admitted that the force’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) – inherited from his predecessors three years ago – have never been updated during his tenure, and that there has been no joint search-and-rescue exercise with foreign assets or fishing vessels “in a while,” because he said there was “no need for it.”

MARAD

Maritime Administration (MARAD) officials fared no better under questioning. Chief engineer Christopher Clarke, a 20-year MARAD veteran, testified that the agency does not actually license its engineers – it merely promotes them by internal letter after they attend training. Clarke also confirmed there is no planned maintenance system for MARAD vessels and that no safety drills are conducted aboard them. MARAD captain Anthony Williams, confirmed to his rank only in April 2026, said he was never trained in search and rescue despite having since taken part in a 2012 rescue operation.

NO LIFE JACKETS

Separately, GDF petty officer Jerome Agard, who led a coast guard rescue team to the scene after 11:45 p.m. on July 18, told the commission that at least 31 people pulled from the water were not wearing life jackets, and that no log was kept of the names, number, or rescue coordinates of survivors.

The vessel sank the night of July 18th roughly 10 nautical miles off the Essequibo Coast, carrying 179 passengers and crew. Seventy-six were confirmed dead.

The human toll is now also moving through the courts. Magistrate Ravindra Mohabir ruled this week that the murder case against MV Barima captain Kevin Price, chief mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts, and Transport and Harbours Department goods superintendent Delon Granderson will proceed, rejecting defense arguments that the parallel COI made the criminal proceedings an abuse of process. “It is not an abuse of process to have these proceedings conducted in this court,” Mohabir ruled, setting December 14 as the date the court will decide whether sufficient evidence exists to commit the trio to stand trial by judge and jury. The paper committal itself is set to begin November 16.

All three men are jointly charged with the murder of the 66 people and “other persons unknown.”

The named victims are Kevin Wilson, Claymont King, Oxwell John, Roma Mendonca, Nathaniel Matabheek, Nathalia Matabheek, Rachel Wells Matabheek, Ezekiel Matabheek, Cheriannys Valenzuela, Orin Clarke, Edith Gordon, Omar Harris Paul Seapersaud, Andriel Bautisa, Youlanda Marks, Gwenette Marks, Shenira Smith, Cleiveliz Fraser, Vivianna Saddurddin, Argelys Kelly Williams, Devon Mars, Robina Hernandez and Tendhi Standford.

Also listed are Adans Williams, Ranaldo Poon, Aarave Daniels, Marcia Beharry, Leonard Persaud, Mariam Bernard, Ravindra Singh, Shivana LaCruz Ramsindo, Christiani Rodrigues, Annalisa Murray, Owen Arthur, Loveisa Bovell, Joshua Arthur, Ranaldo Pickering, Bibi Mohamed, Sylvester Peters, Shawn John, Akelah Rodrigues, Vishawn Ramjattan, Nelly Duesberry, Samara Manoharlall and Sherlon Joseph.
The remaining named victims are Timar Manoharlall, Dellon Gaskin, Percy France, Alicia Atkinson, Dwyane Forbes, Orin Europe, Orwin Europe, Justin Mury, Odessa Mury, Reshana David, Kishana Sam, Tiona Sam, Elizebeth Bowin, Argany Williams, Omarions Europe Jacob Jerome, Mark Abrams, Ashleena Bovel, Kyle Thomas, Carlton Bennett, Navessa Bovell, Martin Ishmeal and Jason Headley, along with other persons unknown.

With the wreck still unrecovered and the agencies responsible for the response unable – or unwilling – to produce the records the commission says it needs, the central question driving the inquiry remains unanswered three months on: not just how the MV Barima sank, but why no one in a position to prevent it, or to properly respond to it, can produce a clear account of what actually happened that night.

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