THE Commission of Inquiry (CoI) investigating the capsizing of the MV Barima has issued a formal call for evidence, inviting anyone with knowledge relevant to Guyana’s deadliest maritime disaster to come forward as the five-member panel works towards opening public hearings later this month.
In a press release issued September 1, the Commission said it is inviting members of the public, government bodies, non-governmental organisations, private and public entities, and the international community who possess relevant knowledge, information or recommendations to contact its Secretariat.
Submissions can be made in writing to the Office of the Secretariat at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, by email at presidentialcommissiongy@gmail.com, or via WhatsApp at 592-674-7473.
The Commission stressed that the invitation carries real weight. Anyone whose information touches on its Terms of Reference may be required to attend and give evidence, and the body is statutorily empowered to summon witnesses and compel the production of documents, plans or other records connected to the inquiry.
The appeal comes as the Commission, chaired by retired Belizean judge and former Attorney General Godfrey P. Smith, gave its first detailed public progress update since being sworn in on July 30 by President Irfaan Ali.
The panel said it has completed a preliminary, in-person survey of the accident site, secured its hearing venue at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, where proceedings will be held in public, and stood up a Secretariat to provide administrative, research and logistical support.
It is also gathering records from the Maritime Administration Department, the Transport and Harbours Division, the Guyana Coast Guard and the Air Guard, in keeping with international maritime conventions and the Guyana Shipping Act, and has begun preliminary analysis of documentation touching on the vessel’s seaworthiness, the conditions under which it sailed, and crew operations during the voyage.
A list of potential witnesses has been compiled, a preliminary interview schedule is being prepared, and draft Rules of Procedure to guide the Commission’s work have been completed.
Guided by international standards for marine casualty investigations, the Commission said its mandate will not be limited to a safety review alone but will extend to public accountability, institutional performance and reform.
It pledged to carry out its work “independently, impartially, thoroughly and expeditiously, without fear or favour.”
The MV Barima capsized and sank on the night of July 18 after being struck by a large wave roughly seven miles off Guyana’s Essequibo coast while travelling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma, a mining community in the Barima-Waini region near the Venezuelan border.
Although the vessel’s manifest listed 133 people, 116 passengers and 17 crew, authorities later determined that as many as 179 had been aboard.
Guyana observed three days of national mourning in the tragedy’s immediate aftermath, and by the time search-and-recovery operations concluded in early August, the disaster had been confirmed as the worst in the country’s maritime history, with 73 people confirmed dead, 76 rescued, and 30 others still missing and presumed dead.
Questions surrounding the vessel’s loading, the accuracy of its passenger manifest, and crew conduct during the voyage are among the matters the inquiry is expected to examine.
President Irfaan Ali had named the five-member international panel on July 26, drawing on legal, maritime and engineering expertise from across the region.
Alongside Justice Smith, the Commission includes Polish forensic naval architect and marine engineer Dr. Andrzej Jasionowski; Jamaican maritime surveyor Captain Hamada Fouda; attorney Nyree Dawn Alfonso, who brings a background in maritime law; and retired Rear Admiral Hayden Pritchard, a former Chief of Defence Staff of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force.
Officials have said the panel will trace every stage of the voyage, from the loading of the vessel and boarding of passengers through onboard conditions, the capsizing itself, and the adequacy of the search-and-rescue response, and determine whether negligence, misconduct or regulatory failures played a role, with a view to recommending reforms that strengthen maritime safety nationwide.
The government has separately stood up a Safety and Compliance Audit team to review standards across Guyana’s marine vessel fleet.
With its administrative groundwork largely complete, the Commission says it is working to open substantive hearings before the end of September.