HGP NIGHTLY NEWS – Should raising the MV Barima be treated as an ordinary salvage job, or as the recovery of a major piece of evidence? A coalition of civil society organisations wants BK International removed from the $1.034 billion operation, warning that the wreck could contain crucial evidence about why the vessel capsized and sank.
The groups argue that the wreck could contain critical evidence about why the vessel capsized and sank on July 18 and are demanding that the operation be handled by specialists capable of conducting what they describe as forensic salvage.
The coalition includes Transparency Institute Guyana Inc., the Amerindian Peoples Association, Guyana Trades Union Congress, Red Thread, Crossroads Women’s Centre and the Oil and Gas Governance Network.
Their concerns centre on the award of the $1.034 billion salvage contract to BK International, which submitted the lowest bid.
According to the coalition, three companies tendered for the operation, but it contends that none satisfied requirements for between five and ten years of proven marine salvage experience in Guyana or the wider Caribbean under difficult conditions.
The groups argue, however, that the Government should now engage a company with specialised forensic salvage capabilities.
Unlike conventional salvage, which largely focuses on recovering a vessel or property, the coalition says forensic salvage would require careful documentation of the wreck, preservation of its condition and protection of the chain of custody for anything that could become evidence.
The groups also pointed to BK International’s own barge, Darren B, which sank in the Demerara River in 2014 and was eventually raised by Dutch salvage company Koole Contractors after remaining an obstruction.
Koole was also among the companies that tendered for the MV Barima recovery operation.
The coalition is additionally demanding an independent technical marine safety investigation, arguing that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry cannot substitute for a specialised investigation into the marine casualty.
Its concerns extend to the operation of the Commission itself.
The organisations have questioned public access, the handling of evidence and the process through which survivors and relatives of victims can participate.
They also want the Commission’s final report released to the public immediately upon completion.
The coalition further raised allegations surrounding the treatment of potential witnesses and the independence of the Commission’s secretariat. Those allegations have not been independently substantiated.
Concerns were also raised about the two-hour delay imposed on livestreams of the public hearings, with the organisations calling for proceedings to be carried live where possible.
But at the centre of their demands remains the wreck itself.
With the Barima potentially holding physical evidence capable of helping investigators understand how the disaster unfolded, the coalition says its recovery must be treated not simply as a salvage operation, but as the preservation of a possible crime and accident evidence site.
