HGP Nightly News – No inspection or technical report had declared the MV Barima unfit for service before it capsized, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has said, rejecting claims that the government knowingly allowed an unseaworthy ferry to carry passengers.
Edghill addressed the vessel’s condition at a government press briefing Sunday evening as scrutiny intensified over a G$124.5 million tender for its docking and rehabilitation.
“There was no report of any kind that suggested the vessel was unseaworthy,” he said. “It was in line for dry docking in keeping with the schedule.”
According to the minister, the ferry was last dry-docked in 2024 and was scheduled to return to dry dock during the latter half of 2026, along with the MV Malali and MB Hercules.
He said the bill of quantities provided to prospective contractors formed part of a routine procurement exercise and should not be interpreted as evidence that the MV Barima had failed a safety inspection.
The tender covered proposed inspections and work involving the hull, underwater sections, propulsion, steering, cargo hatch, seawater valves and other components.
Edghill said similar specifications are prepared for other Transport and Harbours Department vessels as part of scheduled maintenance. The final extent of any repairs may only become clear after a vessel is removed from the water and inspected, he explained.
Government records show that the MV Barima underwent what the Ministry of Public Works described as “critical repairs” in September 2024. The ministry said at the time that underwater work had been completed at the Parika docking facility before the ferry returned to service.
Contractors were invited in March 2026 to bid on another docking and rehabilitation programme, with an engineer’s estimate of approximately G$124.5 million.
The existence of that tender does not, by itself, establish that the ferry was unseaworthy. Equally, Edghill’s assurance does not independently confirm its condition when it departed Georgetown.
That question will require an examination of the vessel’s inspection reports, defect records, maintenance history and seaworthiness certification. Those documents have not yet been released publicly.
Questions about the ferry intensified after the We Invest in Nationhood party circulated procurement documents and argued that the proposed work pointed to structural and mechanical deficiencies that should have been addressed before the vessel continued carrying passengers.
WIN has suggested that issues involving the hull, steering, propulsion or other systems may have affected the vessel’s stability. That claim has not been independently verified, and investigators have not linked any of the tendered work to the capsizing.
Edghill said the government’s immediate focus remained the search for those still unaccounted for.
“As a government, all day we had one thing in our minds—rescuing people,” he said.
The Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard has been leading the operation with support from government agencies, private vessels, divers and specialised scanning equipment. Regional and international partners have also offered assistance.
Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips said every available avenue would be pursued as authorities continued searching and verifying passenger information.
Relatives of people believed to have travelled on the ferry were asked to contact the emergency hotline or visit family assistance centres at the Umana Yana, Port Kaituma and Mabaruma.
Authorities have acknowledged that the official passenger manifest was unreliable after discovering that several survivors were not recorded on it. That discrepancy has prevented the government from confirming exactly how many people were aboard.
A multi-agency investigation is expected to examine the MV Barima’s condition, loading and stability, passenger and cargo records and the conduct of the captain, crew and shore-based officials.
Edghill maintains that no report had declared the ferry unsafe. The strength of that assertion will ultimately depend on whether the government releases the technical records showing what inspectors found, what repairs were outstanding and why the vessel was cleared to continue operating.
