BK wins $1.3B contract to salvage MV Barima

(Kaieteur News) – The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) has awarded GYD $1.034 billion contract to local infrastructure firm BK International Inc. to raise the wreck of the MV Barima.

The selection raises sharp questions about technical capability and government transparency, BK International, a company that previously had to rely on state-funded intervention to clear its own sunken barge from the Demerara River bed, has been entrusted with a delicate, high-stakes forensic salvage operation on a “No Cure, No Pay” basis.

The contract award was neither announced in a government press release nor disclosed by the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD). Instead, media houses visiting NPTAB’s website after the disclosure discovered the upload independently.