MV Barima CoI… MARAD Director admits no State vessel is seaworthy

(Kaieteur News) – Months after Public Works Minister Juan Edghill dismissed claims that the MV Barima was seaworthy following its fatal July sinking, the Maritime Administration Department’s (MARAD) Director of Safety conceded before a Presidential Commission of Inquiry that state-owned vessels regularly navigate Guyanese waters without basic seaworthiness and stability certificates.

In the immediate aftermath of the July 18, 2026 tragedy off the Essequibo Coast, which claimed at least 73 lives, Minister Edghill rejected public assertions that the passenger and cargo ferry had been declared unseaworthy. “There was no report of any kind that suggested the vessel was unseaworthy. It was in line for dry docking in keeping with the schedule,” Minister Edghill stated in July, clarifying that the ferry was last dry docked in 2024 and was scheduled to undergo its next major overhaul during the latter half of 2026 alongside the MV Malali and MV Hercules. He explained that procurement bills of quantities issued to contractors were part of routine hull and underwater maintenance carried out across the Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD) fleet rather than an indication that the vessel was unfit to sail.

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However, after four hours of cross-examination by Commissioners Jasionowski, Pritchard, and Commission Counsel Arudranauth Gossai during the hearing, MARAD’s Director of Safety Courtney McDonald exposed a different operational reality, admitting that the MV Barima was unfit to sail, lacked MARAD clearance, and that the agency had no tracking system to know the vessel was operating.