Survivors Remember The Screams; Father Awaits Missing Son

“The Boat Cant Over and Gone”: Harrowing Survivor Accounts Emerge as Father Awaits Word on Missing Sailor Son

By |Javone Vickerie | HGP Nightly News|

CHARITY, ESSEQUIBO COAST — As night fell over the dark Atlantic waters off Iron Punt, the 89-year-old ferry MV Barima tilted sharply onto its side and capsized within minutes, plunging sleeping families into a terrifying nightmare.

For the 67 survivors rescued so far, the memory of that moment is dominated by desperate screams, parents searching frantically in the blackness for children who had been sleeping on the deck floor, and a desperate fight to swim out from beneath the overturning hull.

The horror on the water has been compounded by severe administrative confusion on land. While state authorities initially believed 133 passengers and crew members were aboard, emergency teams quickly discovered that the official passenger manifest was wildly inaccurate. Of the 67 survivors brought ashore, only 35 were listed on the ship’s official roster, leaving officials scrambling to determine the true number of lives lost at sea.

The Human Cost: Manifest Discrepancy & Rescue Metrics

                       [ MV BARIMA MANIFEST VS. RESCUE REALITY ]
                                          │
         ┌────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────┐
         ▼                                                                 ▼
 [ Official Manifest Record ]                                     [ Actual Rescue Figures ]
 - 116 Passengers Registered                                      - 67 Total Survivors Rescued
 - 17 Crew Members Registered                                     - 41 Men, 11 Women, 15 Children
 - Total Expected: 133 Persons                                    - ONLY 35 Rescued Were On Manifest

Nightmare in the Dark: Survivors Speak Out

For those who survived the sudden tilt, the trauma remains overwhelming:

“The boat started to cant and water just start rushing in. It didn’t take four minutes and it was gone. Parents were hollering and looking for their babies because they went to sleep on the ground, and their babies just washed away in the dark. I had to fight and swim out from under there.”

— Survivor Account

Another passenger recalled becoming uneasy several hours before the tragedy occurred, noting unusual tilting movements and cargo shifting as the vessel encountered rough tides off the Pomeroon coast. When the ferry rolled completely over, passengers were thrown into the Atlantic, clinging to ice boxes, floating cargo crates, and shared lifejackets throughout the cold night.

A Father’s Agonizing Wait

While survivors at the Essequibo Technical Institute (ETI) and Charity Hospital receive medical care, Royson Frank remains anchored at the waterfront, waiting for any news regarding his son.

Frank’s son had worked as a sailor aboard the MV Barima for over a decade. His father revealed that his son had repeatedly voiced serious concerns regarding ongoing mechanical and structural issues with the aging ferry.

“He was always complaining about the problems on that boat,” Frank shared through tears, holding vigil as Coast Guard vessels and private trawlers bring retrieved bodies to shore. “Every time he came home, he talked about the issues they were having with the vessel. Now I am just waiting here to see what happens to my son.”

Ongoing Identification at Charity Hospital

Search-and-rescue teams from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard, alongside civilian volunteers and specialized oil-sector sonar vessels, continue scanning the coastline as divers attempt to access the interior of the submerged ferry. With more bodies being brought to the Charity Hospital mortuary for formal identification, families across Guyana remain in an agonizing state of suspense as the full scale of the disaster unfolds.