Georgetown — A government press briefing held today on the search and rescue operation for the MV Barima provided a thorough recitation of ongoing efforts, but offered no substantive new information about the fate of the missing or any changes to the operation that were not already publicly known.

At the Maritime Search and Rescue Partnering Center, officials described the scale of the response: the search area has been expanded from 400 to 1,070 square kilometres, air and sea assets including state resources and support from the private sector and local fisherfolk continue to scour the area, and three command centres have been established at Marbuma, Port Kaituma and Umana Yana. The Guyana Coast Guard, accompanied by multiple ministries and agencies, remains the lead partner in the coordinated response.

The statement reiterated details about the MV Barima that were already in circulation: the vessel was allegedly equipped with 250 life jackets, six inflatable life rafts and two rigid life rafts; it has a cargo capacity of 284 tons and was carrying 268 tons at the time of the incident; it is licensed to carry in excess of 300 passengers. The Prime minister was quoted as saying the vessel was transporting, ” 116 passengers and a crew of 70 onboard” Officials also confirmed that six to seven people had been rescued and moved to medical facilities in Lima and Essequibo Coast, with psychosocial support being provided to families in the affected regions and in Georgetown.