Major discrepancies found on MV Barima manifest

Jul 20, 2026 News

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…captain, crew members tested positive for ganja

…32 rescued passengers not listed

(Kaieteur News) – The Government of Guyana has ordered an urgent investigation following the catastrophic maritime tragedy aboard the MV Barima, amid shocking revelations that the vessel’s captain and first engineer tested positive for narcotics, and dozens of rescued passengers were never recorded on the ship’s official manifest.

Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, speaking at the government’s press conference last evening, confirmed that severe operational breaches and blatant “mischief” have compromised the entire voyage, promising that those responsible will face the “full force of the law.”

The Numbers: A Fractured Paper Trail

The true scope of the administrative breakdown is laid bare by the survival data. While 116 people were legitimately accounted for through modern booking systems, the actual manifest did not match the souls pulled from the water. This booking data was compiled from two primary sources: 100 individuals who secured their spots through the Online Booking System, and an additional 16 persons who registered via the Mobile Money Guyana (MMG) System.

According to data verified by Commander Shamshudeen, a total of 67 persons have been rescued so far. However, a discrepancy has emerged between the rescue operations and official documentation, as only 35 names out of the 67 survivors were actually found on the official flight manifest. Of the 67 individuals who were successfully rescued, the demographic breakdown consists of 36 adults and 15 females. Additionally, the survivors include 16 children, who are further categorised as nine girls and seven boys.

Authorities also confirmed that two bodies have been recovered thus far, both identified as female.

The government has released the vessel’s official manifest alongside the names of the rescued and those still deemed missing based on currently available information. Officials note that these lists will continuously be updated as intense verification and search efforts progress.

Crew in Police Custody After Testing Positive for Drugs

As search and rescue efforts intensified, medical examinations conducted by healthcare personnel yielded deeply alarming results. The ship’s captain, a sailor, and the first engineer, all survivors of the wreck, are currently in police custody at Anna Regina. Both the captain and the first engineer tested positive for cannabis during post-incident medical testing. The vessel’s mate also survived and initially assisted with search and rescue operations before being returned to Georgetown. Authorities confirmed the mate was subjected to the same drug panel, but the results were not the same as the other crew members.

“Two rescued crew members tested positive for cannabis during medical examinations conducted by the healthcare personnel. And you would agree with me that these are deeply concerning and shocking developments,” Minister Edghill stated. “Where negligence, misconduct, or criminal wrongdoing is established, those responsible will face the full force of the law. There will be no exemptions.”

The investigation is sharply focused on how the vessel was loaded and why the official paperwork failed to reflect the true number of lives on board.

During the briefing, Kaieteur News pressed the minister on the mechanics of the sinking, asking whether the vessel’s failure to right itself after listing (tilting) was caused by overcrowding, the sheer age of the boat, or if it was simply a rogue wave.

Minister Edghill revealed that because of the massive discrepancies in passenger data, he is taking nothing at face value. At the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, he personally summoned the superintendent and the revenue clerk to audit the entire cargo manifest line by line.

“To determine exactly what was the load… that gave me early in the day 260,” Edghill explained, noting that the audit was a meticulous work-in-progress just before he walked into the press room. “We are not taking anything for granted by anybody’s word. We are going back through everything with a fine-tooth comb.”

Addressing the physics of the disaster, maritime experts at the head table explained that a standard wave should not permanently capsize a ship with intact structural integrity.

“It is not abnormal if a wave hits a boat that it goes, but it comes back down,” Edghill noted, before turning the floor over to the technical experts to explain why the vessel listed and stayed down.

Captain Thomas detailed that while wind and wave actions naturally cause a vessel to heel (tilt), roll, and pitch in the waterway, a ship with “positive stability” will always return to an upright position, even if shoved 20 degrees to one side. The catastrophic failure to right itself points back to human operational error under treacherous conditions.

“A captain, who may be compromised by whatever, would not be able to look at what is happening with the waves, and so maybe [not] be able to ride those waves,” Captain Thomas stated grimly. “We will have an investigation. All these issues will be dealt with during the process of the investigation.”

Answering questions from the press regarding what sort of operation or “jiggery-pookery” could have taken place to cause such a dangerous reality, Minister Edghill was blunt: “One word… we can’t excuse it: mischief. Mischief. And that’s why I’m outraged.”

The minister explained that under the Transport and Harbors Department (T&HD) structure, checks and balances should be active. A traffic manager manages the Kingston Goods Wharf, a superintendent is responsible for the physical loading of cargo and passengers, and a revenue officer is tasked with collecting payments. Because Transport and Harbors operates as the service provider while the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) acts strictly as the regulator, Edghill clarified that this disaster stems directly from operational breaches at the ground level rather than regulatory failure.

Will the ‘Big Fishes’ Face Dismissal?

When pressed by reporters on whether high-level managers or the head of the Transport and Harbors Department would be fired over the sheer embarrassment and lack of chain-of-command checks, especially regarding a drug-impaired captain, the minister noted that immediate internal administrative actions are underway.

“We are getting to the bottom of this, and people will be dealt with,” Edghill said, confirming he called an immediate management meeting following the press brief to determine if specific oversight personnel, including the superintendent and traffic managers, will be immediately sent on leave pending the multi-agency probe.

The investigation team comprises the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), MARAD, and independent technical maritime experts.

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• discrepancies, GDF, Guyana Defence Force, manifest, MARAD

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