Search and rescue teams pressed on Monday in Guyana, working to locate survivors after a ferry believed to have been carrying far more passengers than permitted capsized over the weekend. Adding to the grim situation, the government confirmed that at least 35 of the 67 people pulled from the water were never listed on the official passenger manifest.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips told reporters late Sunday that hopes of finding additional survivors are dimming. Officials believe the vessel was carrying significantly more than the documented 116 passengers and 17 crew members when it went down. Only two bodies have been recovered so far.
Phillips also disclosed that the rescued captain and at least one other crew member tested positive for marijuana. Both remain in police custody as a criminal investigation moves forward.
The vessel, identified as the MV Barima, capsized off the Essequibo coast late Saturday. It had been traveling from the capital, Georgetown, to Port Kaituma in northwestern Guyana, near the Venezuelan border.
The prime minister announced that the government is conducting an urgent and wide-ranging investigation into the accuracy of the passenger manifest, how cargo was loaded, whether safety regulations were followed, and the behavior 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,” Phillips stated. “There will be no exceptions and no tolerance for actions that placed innocent lives at risk.”
Public Works Minister Juan Edghill described the incident as the worst marine disaster the country has seen in decades and expressed deep concern over the latest findings.
“We have a zero tolerance for members of the crew drinking or smoking while at work. And for us to have positive tests from the captain, this is serious,” Edghill said. “People’s lives are at risk, and those matters will be dealt with.”
Edghill also acknowledged that authorities cannot determine exactly how many people were on board because the manifest is unreliable.
“Nobody for the want of a few extra dollars can cheat a system and compromise the entire search-and-rescue operation,” he said. “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.”
The problem of unlisted passengers is not new. For years, travelers have complained that ferry clerks quietly sell extra seats to friends and associates for cash without recording them on the official manifest — a practice that has reportedly been going on for decades at government-run piers.
Ferries and boats serve as critical transportation in Guyana, a heavily forested nation with limited road infrastructure in its interior regions. Many residents rely on water travel because shipping cargo by ferry is considerably cheaper than using domestic airlines, which also offer daily service to inland communities.
Multiple passengers took to social media to report that water had been leaking into the cargo hold as the MV Barima made its way along the North Atlantic coast during what would become its final voyage.
The vessel was built more than 80 years ago. It last underwent major repairs when it was dry docked in 2024, and additional significant maintenance had been scheduled for October.
