By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Tues. July 21, 2026: As search teams continue looking for dozens still missing after the MV Barima capsized off Guyana’s coast on July 20th, the disaster is renewing attention on a challenge Guyana’s ferry system has faced for more than 15 years: an aging fleet that has been repeatedly patched rather than replaced.

The Guyana government confirmed Monday that the confirmed death toll has risen to 27 as 83 persons remain unaccounted for. The identification process, involving relatives, is being carried out at Suddie Hospital.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Center deployed 13 assets from first light Monday and declared that 69 people, including passengers and crew members, have been rescued. The government says it remains fully committed to the search and continues deploying all available resources to account for everyone who was aboard. The government also said the ferry’s location was identified not by its own military or divers, but at 13:31 hrs today by a fisherman – Haresh Singh, who had earlier assisted in rescue efforts yesterday.

International assistance has since joined the operation. President Irfaan Ali announced Monday that a 15-member team from the French Armed Forces in French Guiana, including 12 specialist divers, two medics and a mechanic, had arrived in Guyana to help with the search, rescue and recovery effort. The team is led by Lieutenant Commander Alexis Touboul. The ferry capsized roughly seven miles offshore near the mouth of the Pomeroon River. As of the latest count, 67 people have been rescued and 10 confirmed dead, with the Guyana Defense Force, Coast Guard, private vessels and local fisherfolk continuing to scour the area, including the privately owned vessel Gilligan Island.

Port Kaituma residents began publicly calling for a newer, faster vessel as early as 2010, citing disruptions that caused losses for passengers and local businesses. By 2015, government officials were openly acknowledging that the MV Barima and other ferries serving the North-West District were aging and needed urgent attention. Then-Cabinet Secretary Joseph Harmon, under the David Granger government, said at the time that the old vessels should not remain in service much longer, citing unreliable transportation and its effect on residents, businesses and the movement of goods from Region One. The administration announced plans that year to lease a ferry and acquire two new vessels for the route.

Those plans didn’t result in the MV Barima’s retirement. Instead, in 2017, the government spent 150.6 million Guyanese dollars rehabilitating the vessel – work on its hull, propellers and rudders, two new engines, and improvements to passenger accommodation. The 87-year-old ship, built in Scotland in 1939, remained in active service for nearly another decade until it capsized on July 19 while traveling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma with some 133 people aboard, along with cargo.

Minister pushes back on “unseaworthy” claims

Guyana’s Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, dismissed claims circulating publicly that the MV Barima was unseaworthy, telling reporters at a Sunday evening, July 20th press briefing that the vessel was operating within its routine maintenance schedule and was due for planned dry-docking later this year. Edghill said the ferry was last dry-docked in 2024 and was scheduled for its next dry-docking in the latter half of 2026, alongside the MV Malali and MB Hercules. He said public reports suggesting the vessel had been declared unfit for service were inaccurate.

A fleet of similar age

The MV Barima was far from the only aging vessel in Guyana’s Transport and Harbours Department fleet.

The MV Malali, built in 1962, and the MV Makouria, built in 1959, remain technically active but are prone to frequent mechanical breakdowns and parts shortages. The Malali primarily serves the Parika-to-Bartica route, while the Makouria now operates mainly as an infrequent backup.

The MV Kanawaima, which has handled the Guyana-Suriname crossing since 1998, is reportedly plagued by technical issues serious enough that the terminal has had to rent or swap in alternative tugs and barges to keep the route running.

The government has made some investments in modernizing parts of the fleet in recent years, commissioning the MV Ma Lisha in 2023 and the MV Konawaruk 1899 in December 2025, along with newer vessels serving the busier Essequibo routes. But those additions have not reached every route, and the money committed to the Barima itself went toward continued rehabilitation rather than replacement.

In March 2026, the Ministry of Public Works invited bids for a $440 million rehabilitation initiative covering three vessels – the MV Ma Lisha, the MV Barima and the MB Hercules – with $124.5 million specifically earmarked for further work on the Barima, according to a Department of Public Information notice at the time. Guyana’s 2025 budget had allocated 9.9 billion Guyanese dollars for river transportation overall, rising to 11.2 billion dollars for 2026, but no purpose-built vessel intended to retire the Barima outright was funded in that plan.

In February 2025, President Irfaan Ali said the government was considering acquiring another ferry for the North-West District given rising travel demand, and later that year the administration acquired the Kalliopi N, a vessel that can carry 284 passengers and 51 vehicles, for the Georgetown-to-Region One route. It is unclear from public records whether that vessel had entered service, or was intended to replace the Barima specifically, at the time of Saturday’s disaster.

A pattern beyond one ship

Even as search and rescue operations continue, the broader fleet shows signs of ongoing strain. The Ministry of Public Works temporarily withdrew the MV Sabanto, one of two primary vessels on the heavily used Parika-to-Supenaam route, for urgent repairs this month. That leaves the MV Kanawan and the newly commissioned MV Konawaruk 1899 to carry the load on one of the country’s busiest crossings.

For the outlying Indigenous and rural communities in Regions One, Two and beyond that depend on these aging vessels for both transportation and the movement of cargo and produce, Saturday’s disaster raises a question that predates this weekend by well over a decade: how long a country can keep patching an aging fleet before the patches run out.

NewsAmericasNow will continue following the investigation into the MV Barima disaster and the state of Guyana’s ferry fleet.

RELATED: Over Four Dozen Missing After Guyana Ferry Disaster

By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sun. July 19, 2026: Search and rescue teams in Guyana were racing against time Sunday to find 49 people still unaccounted for after the Guyana ferry disaster. The MV Barima, an almost 90-year-old vessel, capsized off the country’s North Atlantic coast, in what officials are calling one of Guyana’s most serious maritime disasters in recent years.

The vessel, built in 1939 and serving Guyana for decades, transporting both passengers and cargo, was one of the country’s oldest operating vessels. It was reportedly carrying 133 passengers and 17 crew when it overturned in the early hours of Sunday while traveling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma in Region One. The vessel’s manifest listed 116 passengers and 17 crew members but it was reportedly carrying 133 people.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips said Sunday afternoon 67 people had been rescued – 41 men, 11 women and 15 children, six boys and nine girls. Those rescued were taken to medical facilities in Charity and Lima, with the Ministry of Health leading the medical response. The government said only two are confirmed as dead so far. Among those identified as still missing are Sherida Hussein, 48; Babuni Harrier, 75, a pensioner; and Alwin Joseph as well as Rachel Welch, and her three children – Nathaniel Jr., Natalia, and Ezekiel. Indrawattie Natram and Eve Jerome, who was traveling to Mabaruma in Region One aboard the MV Barima survived but her two children, Alliya Gonsalves, 12, and Jerome Jacobs, 3, remain missing. Elena Moonsammy lost seven children.

The search operation

Since first light Sunday, the search area has expanded from 400 to 1,070 square kilometers, with air and sea assets increasing throughout the day. Three command centers were established by 7 a.m. Sunday, in Mabaruma, Port Kaituma and at the Umana Yana in Georgetown. The Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard is leading the operation, supported by other emergency responders, private vessels and local fisherfolk with knowledge of the waters. The vessel’s captain and mate, who were among those rescued, have returned to the search area to assist.

President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, according to government statements, have remained engaged in the response, and multiple Cabinet ministers have been meeting directly with families of passengers at the Umana Yana, Port Kaituma Community Centre and the NAREI Extension Centre in Kumaka, providing updates and psychosocial support. “This is why we govern, for people,” said Kwame McCoy, minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, urging the public to rely only on official government channels for verified information.

Minister rejects overload claims

As speculation spread on social media that the ferry had been overloaded, Guyana’s Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said there is no evidence the vessel was carrying more passengers or cargo than permitted, and that investigators have not yet determined the cause of the capsizing.

According to Prime Minister Phillips’ statement, the MV Barima is licensed to carry more than 300 passengers; it had 133 aboard. Its cargo capacity is 284 tonnes; the manifest recorded 268 tonnes at the time of the incident. The vessel was last dry-docked in 2024 and remains within its required docking cycle. Officials said it is operating with new engines, making three to four trips to Port Kaituma monthly. The government says the vessel was equipped with 250 life jackets, six inflatable life rafts and two rigid life rafts.

Prime Minister Phillips has also revealed that some of the people rescued after the MV Barima capsized were not officially listed as passengers, and two of the crew members tested positive for narcotics.

Opposition raises safety concerns

The opposition party, We Invest In Nationhood, pushed back on the government’s account, saying in a Facebook statement that the 87-year-old MV Barima “should never have been sent out to sea” and should have been decommissioned in favor of a modern vessel, alleging the ship had unresolved “structural, hull, propulsion and steering damage and issues.” The party framed the ferry’s continued use as reflecting how the government treats Indigenous communities along the route, calling the disaster “an abomination.”

Questions over helicopter readiness

Separately, the opposition said two of the Guyana Defence Force’s primary helicopters, a Bell 429 and a Bell 412, have been out of service for more than a month due to reported cockpit display unit failures during engine start, potentially leaving the older Bell 407 as the Air Corps’ only airworthy helicopter during the search. Estimates suggest that repairing both aircraft’s display systems could cost approximately 100 million Guyanese dollars in total. It is not publicly known whether an investigation into the failures has been completed. The timing has raised questions about whether additional air search capacity could have supported the ongoing operation roughly eight miles offshore.

Authorities have appealed for patience as the search continues and the investigation proceeds. NewsAmericasNow will continue following developments as more information becomes available.

By Dr. Isaac Newton

Power never creates the heart. It reveals it. Elections do not manufacture character. They uncover it. Every campaign, every committee, and every difficult decision exposes what was already present. The church does not face its greatest danger when people seek responsibility. It faces its greatest danger when responsibility becomes more important than the reason it exists.

The deepest crisis is not conflict. Healthy people can disagree. The deepest crisis begins when sacred language is used to excuse conduct that sacred Scripture condemns. Prayer cannot cleanse manipulation. Worship cannot redeem gossip. A vote cannot justify betrayal. No holy purpose is advanced by unholy means because the method eventually becomes the message.

Leadership worthy of the church follows another pattern. It listens before deciding. It tells the truth even when the truth is costly. It protects the dignity of opponents as carefully as the loyalty of friends. It understands that every conversation teaches people what the church truly believes. Culture is not written in policy. It is written in daily conduct.

History repeats one lesson with remarkable consistency. Institutions seldom fail from a lack of gifted leaders. They fail when gifted leaders love position more than purpose. Titles change hands. Character shapes generations. Every leader leaves two legacies. One is recorded in the minutes. The other is written in people. The second always lasts longer.

Some will welcome these words. Others will dismiss them. That changes nothing. Truth does not wait for permission. Every genuine renewal has required leaders with enough humility to examine themselves before attempting to correct everyone else. Reform always begins with the person in the mirror.

The church will never rise above the character it rewards. Every election casts two votes. One selects leaders. The other defines culture. The first lasts for a term. The second shapes a generation. Wherever ambition claims the highest seat, everyone pays the price. Wherever Christ remains the highest authority, power finds its proper place, people flourish, and the gospel speaks with unmistakable credibility.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Isaac Newton is a leadership strategist, development specialist, theologian, and author of Steps to Good Governance and Fix It, Preacher. He is coauthor of Daring to Hope and When Nations Kneel, and forthcoming author of The Belief Code. Educated at Oakwood University, the University of Southern Caribbean, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, he advises leaders across government, business, education, and the church, helping build cultures where people flourish and leadership creates lasting impact.

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