HGP NIGHTLY NEWS – More than three hours passed between the first recorded distress alert from the MV Barima and reports that the first survivors had been rescued, according to testimony emerging before the Commission of Inquiry.
The first satellite distress alert was received at approximately 10:43 p.m. on July 18, setting off a series of notifications to maritime authorities.
But it was not until the early hours of July 19 that Roraima Airways Captain Learie Barclay and his crew pinpointed the area where survivors were believed to be located.
Barclay testified that he was contacted at approximately 12:16 a.m. and asked to assist with an aerial search. He arrived at Ogle shortly afterwards, and the aircraft eventually departed at approximately 1:36 a.m.
The crew reached the Hampton Court area before moving farther offshore, using the direction of the tide and an increasingly strong emergency locator signal to guide the search.
At approximately 2:09 a.m., the pilots spotted the first of three emergency flares and marked the location. Barclay said the coordinates were immediately relayed to Air Traffic Control and other responders.
Despite the bright flares, the crew could not see the ferry below. Barclay recalled, “We were looking for a ferry, a reasonably sized boat, but unfortunately, we found nothing.”
After circling the area for several minutes, the aircraft began its return to Ogle.
It was during that return flight that Barclay said he received word that two survivors had been found. Before the aircraft landed at approximately 2:37 a.m., he was informed that another eight people had been rescued, bringing the number reported to him to 10.
The testimony provides the Commission with a clearer timeline of the crucial first hours of the emergency, from the 10:43 p.m. distress alert to the first reported rescues more than three hours later, as it examines the adequacy and speed of the search-and-rescue response.
