MV Barima tragedy: Lack of registration, expired EPIRB battery hampered rescue efforts – MARAD coordinator

The lack of registration of the MV Barima was a major safety deficiency that could have affected the search-and-rescue operation following the vessel’s sinking on July 18, 2026, Coordinator of the Emergency Operations Division and Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), Captain John Flores, has acknowledged. The issue was raised by Commissioner Nyree Dawn Alfonso during Friday’s hearing of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the deadly tragedy, as she examined whether the vessel’s registration status and other safety deficiencies had compromised the emergency response.

Drawing on evidence presented over several days of testimony, Alfonso noted that had rescuers immediately known the vessel was the MV Barima, the response could have been quicker and more targeted. She pointed to deficiencies identified in the vessel’s February and November 2025 inspection reports, particularly its lack of registration and an expired battery in its Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). Alfonso said these deficiencies could have affected the effectiveness of the rescue operation, since immediate identification of the vessel would have given rescuers a clearer understanding of the type of vessel involved and the potential number of people on board.

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“The more I hear [the testimonies], the more I know the response might have been quicker, better, more wholesome, if we knew exactly. It wasn’t a fishing boat with two or three people on it. It was a larger vessel with so many more souls on board,” the commissioner remarked. She also questioned whether the vessel had been exempted from mandatory safety legislation, suggesting that MARAD had effectively allowed it to operate without complying with certain requirements. Alfonso challenged the basis for such exemptions, asking which safety standards would apply to Government-operated vessels if they were not required to meet the same regulatory obligations.