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Weeping captain: ‘we don’t deserve this’ says vessel was unfit to sail
…lacked radar, anchor, search and rescue transponder
…DPP and lawyers at odds over institution of murder charges
(Kaieteur News) – An emotional Kevin Price, captain of the MV Barima, which sank on 18th July, cried out while being escorted into the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday that the vessel was unfit to sail and “had a lot of issues.”
“I ain’t deserve this father God, I want you to answer my prayers here this morning father God, I ain’t deserve this father God,” Price cried out while being taken into court in handcuffs.
On Monday, 40-year-old Price of Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court alongside crew members Rondell Dwayne, 42, of Grove Public Road, East Bank Demerara, and Delon Granderson, 33, of Fellowship, West Coast Demerara. The three were jointly charged with murder over the ferry disaster.
Kevin Price, captain of MV Barima in handcuffs at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Speaking out publicly for the first time since the tragedy, Price told reporters as he was escorted into the court building that the vessel, he had been assigned was old — 87 years old, he said. “Everybody knows is an old vessel the government give me to wuk, 87 years old is that vessel.”
A tearful Price said the vessel had numerous issues and lacked key safety and emergency equipment required for maritime operations.
“The vessel had a lot of issues, the vessel anchor ain’t wuking, the vessel radar, we don’t have a radar, the vessel don’t have a search and rescue transponder, the vessel don’t have an EPIRB,” Price said, referring to the Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon — a satellite distress device designed to alert search and rescue authorities during a marine emergency.
Price also said the vessel’s life rafts — inflatable boats used in emergencies — had expired since 2022. “Those life rafts expired since 2022, and Maritime did an inspection and did not write off that vessel,” he said.
The MV Barima capsized on the night of 18th July, while en route to Port Kaituma, Region One, from Georgetown, leaving 73 people, including children, confirmed dead and at least 30 people missing at sea.
Since the tragedy, questions have been raised about the vessel’s maintenance, seaworthiness, regulatory oversight, and passenger manifest, as well as whether it was overloaded with passengers and cargo. Survivors and relatives of victims have alleged the vessel was overloaded; government authorities have denied those claims.
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The Captain has verified the vessel’s lack of equipment and state of health.
He needed a job to feed his family.
If he had made complaints about the vessel and no one paid attention to the
needs, then, HE is wrongly charged.