Guyana raises missing count after MV Barima ferry sinks near Venezuelan border

Guyanese officials warn search crews may still recover as many as 83 additional victims after a ferry went down late Saturday while travelling from the capital toward a remote settlement close to Venezuela.

In a briefing to reporters late Monday night, Prime Minister Mark Phillips said 27 bodies had been brought ashore by day’s end. Authorities now estimate that roughly 83 other travellers remain missing, and the chance of finding survivors is dwindling hour by hour.

Officials have also shifted toward the account given by people who made it off the vessel. Those survivors had insisted the MV Barima left Georgetown on Saturday afternoon for Port Kaituma in the northwest, near Venezuela, carrying more passengers and freight than it should have.

Phillips discarded earlier tallies that listed 116 passengers and 17 crew. The revised estimate is 179 passengers and 18 crew, a figure that aligns with reports from the 69 people rescued so far about overcrowding on the 87-year-old craft.

“Eighty-three people are deemed missing and still to be found, based on a review of footage as the boat was loading. I am confident that we have narrowed the figure down to 179,” he said, contrasting that with the formal passenger list of 116 travellers and 17 crew.

With suspicion falling on dock workers who may have taken on extra people and cargo without recording them, Phillips and Public Works Minister Juan Edghill announced that everyone involved in running and boarding the Barima has been stood down pending a full inquiry.

The investigation “aims to guarantee the absolute integrity of the upcoming inquiry and will prevent the likelihood of tampering with or interference in evidence and materials, thereby ensuring a completely fair and unprejudiced outcome,” Edghill said.

As Guyana grieves and waits for more recoveries, President Irfaan Ali cautioned citizens that harder days lie ahead.

“Brace yourself for the coming days. It is going to be difficult for all of us. It is going to be a difficult period for us as a people and as a country. May God watch over Guyana and bring us through this horrible experience,” he said in a national address.

Several nearby nations have already contributed to the search, among them divers from French Guiana and aircraft and vessels from Caricom partners, while authorities move from an active rescue effort into a recovery operation.

People who survived and family members had also criticised the boat’s condition, describing it as rickety. Phillips countered that the ferry underwent a full dry-dock overhaul in 2024 and was scheduled for another maintenance cycle in October.