…says “it’s totally dark”, navigating by touch

As the search and recovery operation continued offshore, where MV Barima sank after capsizing with 179 people onboard last weekend, the French divers who have been supporting local efforts say the harsh conditions in the Atlantic are making it difficult to navigate the wreckage. Since they arrived in Guyana on Monday, the team from the French Guiana Army has executed approximately 15 diving operations to the sunken vessel, which is lying on its side on the seabed about nine miles off the Essequibo Coast in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). The ferry was located two days after capsizing by local fishermen and later confirmed by authorities. So far, 76 persons have been rescued and 73 bodies recovered, while 30 persons are still unaccounted for. Updating anxious family members, who have gathered at Charity on the Essequibo Coast since last week to await news of their missing loved ones, the French divers explained that the weather and the environmental conditions are making it dangerous for them to get into the sunken ferry.

“There are very, very hard environmental conditions, especially because of the tide and the currents. On the wreck, it’s totally dark, so it’s very difficult for us to navigate through the wreck. We have to feel the wreck, and it’s like we are blind. So, it’s too dangerous for us to enter into the wreck. And because of the many ropes and the hammocks, it’s very difficult to see where we are going,” one of the divers recently told the families. Since last week, the technical teams, both local and foreign, have been trying to reposition the vessel. The aim is to get the ferry into a floating position in order to bring it closer to shore so that the divers can safely get inside with the hopes of recovering those missing persons.