A loaded BK Marine barge, DARA B, sank on Monday night at the mouth of the Demerara River while being towed to Kingston, Georgetown with a cargo 2,000 tons of aggregate. The vessel was traveling from BK Quarries at Teperu, in the Essequibo River.

The 230 foot barge is now located East of the center line of the Demerara Main Ships’ Channel, Latitude 06 degrees 50.0235 minutes North, Longitude 58 degrees 10.0837 minutes West.
BK Marine is making every effort to salvage the sunken vessel and wishes to advise all ocean going vessels to take note of the location and take all necessary precautions while traveling there.

According to the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) at about 22:30 hrs on October 27, 2014, the barge while being towed by the tug ‘KYLE’ was on one of its regular voyages from Teperi Quarry in the Essequibo River towards its discharge berth in Kingston, Georgetown when it sank.

MARAD said there were five crew members on board the tug. One of the crew members who may have fallen overboard when the vessel sank was wearing his life jacket. He was, however, quickly rescued. Consequently, there were no casualties.

MARAD officials, on arrival at scene, quickly secured the area. However, an outbound ship came into contact with the stone on the sunken barge. It remained stuck in that position for about one hour, but it refloated as the tide began flooding.

Navigation in the area was temporarily suspended as officers from MARAD sought to locate and mark the exact position of the wreck.

MARAD added that navigation has resumed with vessel traffic control measures being put in place. This will be enhanced as more buoys are placed during the day to aid mariners to safely navigate in the area.

Salvage operations should commence shortly, and as with all such occurrences MARAD has launched an investigation.