Independent marine casualty investigation must be done into MV Barima tragedy -MP Walton

Leader of the Forward Guyana Movement and Member of Parliament, Amanza Walton has called on Government of Guyana to immediately commission an independent marine casualty investigation in accordance with the International Maritime Organization’s Casualty Investigation Code, to probe the circumstances which caused the MV Barima to sink off the Essequibo coast on Saturday night.

MP Walton, who is also Specialist Maritime and Aviation Attorney, said the investigation must not stop at the bridge of the vessel, but must follow the evidence through every link in the chain of causation.

In a release she said a comprehensive investigation must also examine the condition and seaworthiness of the MV Barima, its maintenance history, inspection records, regulatory oversight, operational policies, procurement decisions, emergency preparedness, infrastructure, ministerial oversight where relevant, and every institutional decision that may have contributed to this tragedy.

“The Government is not merely free to conduct this kind of investigation. It is bound to. Guyana is a Contracting Government to SOLAS, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, and since 2010 SOLAS has made it mandatory to investigate any casualty of this kind, one involving the total loss of a vessel or loss of life. This is not a discretionary courtesy that the Government may extend or withhold. It is a treaty obligation. And that investigation must be independent of any criminal proceeding, because the two serve entirely different purposes. Anything less places Guyana in breach of its own international obligations,” Walton said.

The Opposition MP said Guyanese must reject every effort to reduce this national tragedy to a criminal investigation of the crew. She said the issue cannot begin and end with the crew members who were onboard the vessel.

She noted that the real story of the tragedy began years earlier with decisions that were not taken, repairs that were identified but never completed, replacement vessels that did not replace, projects that were announced but never finished, infrastructure that remained incomplete, and an eighty-seven-year-old public ferry that continued carrying the people of Region One long after the Government itself had acknowledged the need for change.

“If the integrity of the investigation required the removal of public servants, it equally requires the removal of the Minister with direct political responsibility for that Department. Accountability cannot have one standard for public servants and another for Ministers. Minister Edghill has also publicly pronounced upon matters that lie at the heart of this investigation. Earlier that day, he stated categorically that the MV Barima was not overloaded with either cargo or passengers. Later, he advanced a different position, suggesting that overloading had occurred and alleging criminal conduct. Those were definitive and contradictory public statements on issues that an independent marine casualty investigation must determine,” Walton said.

She stated that a Minister cannot publicly pronounce upon the very matters that an independent investigation is required to examine and then remain in office while that investigation proceeds saying that his continued tenure undermines public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the process.

The Opposition MP further called on the President to ensure that Minister Deodat Indar plays no role the investigation noting that up until September 2025, he served as the Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, and shared responsibility for the Transport and Harbours Department.

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