Guyana ferry disaster leaves dozens unaccounted for as passenger list questioned

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Rescue teams have recovered 67 people from a government ferry that went down late Saturday, yet prospects of locating the many still missing are dimming. Authorities also concede they cannot yet say how many travellers were aboard, because the official passenger register appears to have been padded.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips told journalists late Sunday that investigators now believe the aged MV Barima was carrying more than 116 passengers plus 17 crew. Of the 67 people saved so far, 35 did not appear on the official passenger list but still managed to board.

Phillips said the rescued master and at least one additional crew member tested positive for marijuana and are being held by police while a criminal inquiry proceeds.

The Barima overturned off Guyana’s western Essequibo shoreline late Saturday during a run from the capital toward Port Kaituma, a township in the country’s northwest near Venezuela. Two bodies have been recovered, officials report, while an intensive day-and-night search for others remains under way.

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said he was shaken and angered by a series of troubling developments tied to what he called the country’s gravest maritime tragedy in decades.

“We have a zero tolerance for members of the crew drinking or smoking while at work,” Edghill said as he and Phillips disclosed that a criminal investigation into the disaster had begun. “And for us to have positive tests from the captain, this is serious. People’s lives are at risk, and those matters will be dealt with.”

Edghill pointed to what he described as apparent corruption in how the passenger list was assembled, stating that “nobody, for the want of a few extra dollars, can cheat a system and compromise the entire search and rescue operation. To be confronted with a reality that, despite an official manifest given to us, persons who were rescued were not manifested — that is a criminal action.” He indicated that the number of people still being sought remains unclear. “We don’t really know the real number right now.”

The ship, constructed more than eight decades ago, underwent major dry-dock repairs in 2024 and was scheduled for another such overhaul later this year. Social media accounts from some travellers contend the ferry may have been carrying too much weight and that water was leaking into the cargo hold as the Barima struggled along the northwestern coast toward Port Kaituma.

Phillips said a swift, wide-ranging investigation would examine the reliability of the manifest, how cargo was loaded, adherence to safety standards, and the behaviour of the captain and crew before departure.

“Let me be absolutely clear, where negligence, misconduct, or criminal wrongdoing is established, those responsible will face the full force of the law. There will be no exceptions and no tolerance for actions that placed innocent lives at risk,” Phillips said.