MV Barima CoI hears… Conflicting coordinates, dead GPS delayed Coast Guard’s rescue

(Kaieteur News) – Conflicting navigation coordinates sent via WhatsApp and phone calls, coupled with non-functioning onboard GPS equipment, hindered the Coast Guard’s initial emergency response to the MV Barima capsizing, the Commission of Inquiry into the maritime disaster heard.

Petty Officer Deon Smith, who served as the first Coast Guard point person and On-Scene Commander for that duration on the night of the tragedy, testified that his rescue crew was forced to rely on personal mobile phones to navigate in pitch-black conditions while being directed to inconsistent search locations.

Full coverageDefence Challenges Murder Case After MV Barima Sinking56 reports

Deployed at 11:40 p.m. on July 18 from the Pomeroon mouth floating base aboard a Metal Shark craft, Smith described a chaotic scene where multiple agencies, including the Coast Guard Operations Room, forwarded contradictory positional data.