HGP Nightly News – Criminal investigators are examining who authorised passengers and cargo aboard the MV Barima before its final voyage, with the ferry’s captain and the Transport and Harbours Department superintendent responsible for loading now in police custody.
The detentions were confirmed during a government briefing at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Kingston, where officials outlined the division of responsibility between employees working on the wharf and officers commanding the vessel.
The captain remains detained without charge after police obtained court approval to extend his time in custody.
Mr. Grandison, the THD loading superintendent who supervised the loading operation, has also been detained. Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said Grandison went to the Criminal Investigation Department with his attorney after being invited to explain his actions.
CID ranks detained him before beginning formal questioning.
“It’s too early to determine the offence,” Edghill told reporters.
The minister said investigators would collect statements and send the completed file to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The DPP will examine the evidence and advise whether charges should be instituted.
Police may seek a further court-approved extension if additional time is needed to complete the investigation.
Neither detention establishes criminal responsibility, and no charges had been filed against either man at the time of the briefing.
Investigators are focusing on the chain of command during the loading process and the authority each official held to reject unrecorded passengers or improperly documented cargo.
According to the government’s explanation, the loading superintendent exercised operational control over waterfront activities. Those responsibilities included overseeing ticket sales, supervising workers and managing the movement of cargo onto the vessel.
The captain and mate, however, retained ultimate authority aboard the ferry and could accept or reject any passenger or cargo item presented for loading.
The investigation must now determine whether those duties were carried out, whether any official knowingly permitted irregularities and where the system failed.
Authorities have acknowledged that numerous survivors were absent from the original passenger manifest. That discovery left the government unable to establish exactly how many people boarded the ferry or how many remained missing during the early stages of the search.
Officials are now comparing the names of survivors and recovered victims against the original list in an effort to reconstruct the vessel’s actual occupancy.
The same reconciliation is expected for the cargo.
Reporters questioned the government about the weighing process and an informal WhatsApp group reportedly used by commercial shippers and THD employees to communicate information about cargo scheduled for transport.
They also asked whether the Ministry of Public Works and other state agencies used that channel or were allowed to bypass the standard weighing procedures.
Edghill maintained that government agencies received no special treatment.
“The Ministry of Public Works is a customer of the Transport and Harbours Department,” he said. “They have to follow the same rules like any other customer.”
Officials said the master cargo manifest remained the legally recognised record of what the vessel carried. It should identify the shipper, consignee, weight and classification of each item, including fuel, construction materials, perishables and other freight.
The government has already confirmed that cargo belonging to the Ministry of Public Works included fuel and all-terrain vehicles. Officials have not yet provided a complete inventory of everything aboard or explained precisely how the weight was distributed.
The investigation is expected to compare the master manifest with shipping records, witness accounts and the cargo known or believed to have been physically loaded.
