–PM reaffirms, details full response timeline to National Assembly

DESPITE disruptive actions from the opposition, Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips told the National Assembly on Monday that the government “remains committed to supporting those affected” by the MV Barima tragedy, as families across Guyana continue to wait for word on loved ones more than a week after the ferry capsized.
Delivering a full chronological account of the search, rescue and recovery effort, Phillips extended the government’s “deepest condolences to every family that has lost a loved one” and outlined the support structures put in place from the earliest hours of the disaster through to today.
The Ministry of Health and the Guyana Police Force jointly established protocols for processing, transporting and storing the deceased, with families invited to Suddie to identify loved ones and regional authorities working alongside them to arrange interments.
Aircraft were used to transport relatives to the hospital to assist with identification, and all recovered remains have been channeled through the Guyana Police Force’s designated facility at the Charity River Dam under those established protocols.
President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali also travelled to meet with and stay with families as the scale of the tragedy became clear, and declared three days of national mourning, a period that brought national flags to half-mast, a National Day of Prayer on July 22, marked by a service at the Kingston Seawall and further Nights of Reflection and Prayer held for affected communities in Port Kaituma on July 23 and Mabaruma on July 24.
Prime Minister Phillips walked the House through the timeline from the moment the MV Barima left the Transport and Harbours Department’s Goods Wharf in Georgetown at 15:20hrs (3:20 p.m.), carrying passengers and cargo bound for Port Kaituma.
The Air Traffic Control Centre at Timehri received a distress signal at 22:43hrs (10:43 p.m.), and the alert moved swiftly through the chain of command: the Georgetown Lighthouse passed the information to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) by 11:03 p.m., which then notified the Guyana Defence Force, Coast Guard, Guyana Police Force and other stakeholders.
The Coast Guard’s first vessel, GDFS 1030, launched from the Pomeroon floating base at 23:11hrs (11:11 p.m.) A National Search and Rescue Committee was assembled at 11:25 p.m., and two more Coast Guard vessels were deployed from the Ruimveldt base at 23:40hrs (11:40 p.m.).
Survivors were pulled from the water through the night: five people by 2:27 a.m., 19 by 4:14 a.m., and 53 by 5:13 a.m. In total, 77 people were rescued, though the Prime Minister noted that one later died.
The vessel itself was located the next day, July 20, resting on the seabed roughly 31 nautical miles northwest of the original distress point; a discovery Phillips credited to a report from fisherman Haresh Singh, assisted by other local fisherfolk, ExxonMobil Guyana, VESHI and Sealand Survey’s Gilligan Island team.
By July 21, the operation had grown to 16 vessels working the wreckage site, with the search area expanded by 400 square miles to reach Waini Point.
France contributed 15 divers to reinforce local teams. A day later, reinforcements from the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard and the Brazilian Navy arrived, bringing the total deployment to 19 vessels and two aircraft, while technical teams began assessing how to safely right the capsized ferry to improve diver access and smaller vessels searched farther inland.
In the most recent operational update, issued July 24, Phillips said the coordinated search and recovery effort remained active throughout the day, with the search area expanded again by 32 square miles, west to Waini Point and east to Adventure, supported by continued aerial surveillance.
Five dives were completed that day, each lasting between 45 and 60 minutes, and during one of them a body was recovered from inside the MV Barima itself. That brought the cumulative total of recovered bodies to 73, of whom 69 had been positively identified.
The Prime Minister said the MRCC has remained fully operational without interruption since the night of the sinking, and reaffirmed that “every reasonable effort would be exhausted” in the ongoing search.
Prime Minister Phillips thanked the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard, the Maritime Administration Department, the Guyana Police Force, the Ministry of Health, regional authorities, local fisherfolk, private vessel operators, aviation personnel, divers and medical teams for their work, along with France, Trinidad and Tobago, and Brazil for their international assistance.
He closed the statement with a message for the families still waiting: “May the families who have suffered loss find strength and comfort, and may the souls of those who perished rest in peace.” Search and recovery operations continue.