Georgetown woman mourns loss of husband she met on MV Barima 23 years ago in ferry tragedy; Brother-in-law also missing

Though overcome by grief at the loss of her husband and brother-in-law still in the MV Barima ferry tragedy, Diane Cort today shared details about the ill-fated vessel in the days and final hours leading up to last Saturday’s tragic incident.

Diane Cort is the wife of Neil Cort, who was the the canteen operator on the vessel along with his brother Kenrick Cort. Both men were onboard the vessel providing their service when the tragedy occurred.

Family members have been unable to positively identify their remains.

It was on the same MV Barima that Diane Cort met the man who would become her husband when she was just 17-years-old.

At the time, Neil Cort was working with the Transport and Harbours Department.

For almost two decades, he operated the canteen on the vessel with the help of his wife and brother.

The grieving mother of two said in the days leading up to the tragic incident, engineers on board the vessel had complained about a single working engine. According to the woman, the vessel has two engines, and one on standby, but one was not working when it arrived at Port Georgetown two Saturdays ago.

“When the boat reach the Saturday, I went there as usual, and I reached up with one of the guys, which-in is the third engineer, and normally those boys would come and gyaff with me. Everybody know me, and they does call me Aunty Diane, some does call me Miss Diane but the majority does call me Aunty Diane. So, he said Aunty Diane, this boat only come with one engine because the other engine got to fix, so it looking like we gun be in Georgetown a little while to get it fixed, so you gun get to spend like time with Cort,” the woman recalled.

According to Ms. Cort, her husband also disclosed that the vessel was operating with a single engine. However, last Monday, the crew was reportedly informed that MV Barima would be making another voyage to Port Kaituma, Region One on Saturday.

The loading of the vessel with cargo began last Tuesday, and Ms. Cort said by Friday, the vessel was already heavily laden, and packed to capacity.

She said it was on Friday that the second engineer expressed concern about the state of the vessel, while she was on board helping her husband prepare meals for the voyage.

“He said Aunty Diane, we still have the problem with the one engine, and I turn and I tell he, dem ain’t fix it. He said Aunty Diane nobody ain’t fix it. He said when I tell them what to do, nobody listens to me, is like, he ain’t know his job, so he said he staying out,” the woman said.

She recalled seeing a large number of crew members being in the engine room of the vessel in addition to personnel from the Transport and Harbours Department.

“He come back more later down, and he come at the back, because the canteen does be at the back, he gone and he peep over, and he said Aunty Diane, this boat low, low, low. The boat was already loaded, goods, and every was already in the hatch. So, he come back again and said Diane the generator [engine] reach. So my words were to him, where they are going to put the generator? He said Aunty Diane, me ain’t know because they don’t have no space to put the generator, somebody box would have to come off,” the woman said.

A fourth engine for the vessel arrived on Friday, and was loaded on the vessel.

Diane Cort said she returned to the vessel on Saturday morning to assist her husband and see him off. She said she noticed that the vessel was crowded with people, many of them being children.

“The boat was so packed, it was packed to the max, plus it had a pickup and it had a car, and when customers send cars, they does normally put their goods inside and pack it more. The vehicle get weight, and they would add more weight to it, motorbike. When the hatch close off, they would normally put things on the hatch. They even had a dead on the boat, they tried and fit the dead in some corner,” Diane Cort recalled.

She is of the strong opinion that the boat sank because it was packed beyond capacity.

“When I finish cooking and so on, when the boat ready to go, my husband does turn and tell me Diane, you go, you go off the boat now, I gun tek over. And I said already Neil, I going, I does got to go upstairs, and when I go upstairs if you does see people. I said, this boat full, if you see children, babies, all kind of things, and I come off the boat, and even me and she (her friend) turn and seh Diane this boat low, this boat too low, she turned and seh let we pray, and we ignore the pray, we didn’t pray,” the woman recalled.

During the early hours of Sunday morning, Diane Cort said received multiple calls that the boat had capsized. She said she remained hopeful that her husband and brother-in-law would have survived the ordeal but was told on Monday that their bodies had been found.

Diane Cort said since the incident, the authorities have not been forthcoming with information, explaining that while their contact information was taken on the morning following the incident, no one has contacted them since.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login