Fast-acting Coast Guard led to the rescue of 50 survivors of the MV Barima
Hours before the GDFS Shahoud set sail from its base at Ruimveldt, before anyone knew the scale of the tragedy that was unfolding at sea, the Coast Guard had already adopted an all-hands-on-deck approach to the distress signals emanating from a beacon on board the MV Barima.
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry heard on Friday that a rapid succession of decisions by commanding officers put Coast Guard marine and air assets in proximity to the spot where the Barima went down.
From the moment GDF’s Metal Shark boat arrived at ground zero, the officers onboard followed the debris and the cries in the dark night for help and began pulling survivors from the turbulent water.
Between 2 and 3 am on July 19, 50 survivors were rescued. No one was counting. No one was plotting the locations of the survivors on their GPS. It was gut-wrenching and emotionally painful work.
That’s the narrative that emerged on Friday as six additional Coast Guard soldiers testified at the inquiry being held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
From their testimony, it is abundantly clear that they too should be treated as survivors. Almost all the soldiers that have testified so far have never, in all their careers, witnessed anything on this scale. And that important detail too was entered into the record along with the fact that many of them required long hours of therapy.
Within minutes after receiving the distress signal from the control tower at CJIA, a Coast Guard team was deployed from the closest position to the signal. That task was assigned to GDF’s Pomeroon floating base.
Midshipman Rahul Ramsarup, the officer commanding the District Two base at the time, testified that he received a WhatsApp message at 10:59 p.m. on July 18, 2026, instructing the team to be ready for a search-and-rescue operation.
At 11:07 p.m., he received the coordinates of the maritime distress signal. Ramsarup said he briefed Petty Officer Keon Smith and the team before they departed for the indicated location, believed to be offshore in the vicinity of Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast.
“After receiving said coordinates and instructions to depart immediately, I briefed my team on the current situation at hand, and it took them about 15 to 20 minutes to depart to the said coordinates,” he told the commission.
However, communication between Ramsarup and Petty Officer Smith was interrupted shortly after the team left because the vessel’s Starlink battery had died, cutting off its internet connection. Ramsarup confirmed that the vessel had no backup communication system at the time.
He explained that travelling from the floating base to the Anna Regina area typically took about two hours during daylight but could take approximately four hours at night because of limited visibility and the need to maintain a safe speed.
Ramsarup said he warned the team to exercise caution because it was an exceptionally dark night. He also testified that sea conditions were not discussed in detail during the briefing, beyond the warning about poor visibility.
The team returned to the floating base before noon that same day.
At approximately 7:30 a.m., a Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) pilot vessel arrived with 50 survivors and one deceased person.
Ramsarup said the survivors included adults and children and that the group included MV Barima captain Kevin Price.
The Coast Guard then coordinated the transfer of the survivors and the deceased person to Charity, where the survivors were handed over to medical personnel and police.
Ramsarup’s records showed that between July 19 and 22, Coast Guard teams rescued and accounted for 69 survivors and recovered 71 bodies during the search operation.
Also providing testimony on Friday was Petty Officer Wendell Walcott, a Guyana Coast Guard officer with 17 years of service. He told the inquiry that his team began search-and-rescue operations on July 20, 2026, moving between designated coordinates and searching different sections of the sea.
Petty Officer Alwin Hibbert, who has 12 years of service in the Coast Guard, also testified that he was deployed on July 20, 2026, under Commander David Shamsudeen. Hibbert said his initial instructions were to proceed from Coast Guard headquarters in Georgetown to the floating base in the Pomeroon River. However, while en route, the team received information from a fisherman about objects reportedly seen floating in the water.
The team made contact with the fisherman, obtained coordinates and diverted to the identified location.
“Upon arrival, the fisherman told us the area. When looking, I saw a gasoline tank, a propane tank, then a rooftop, then an icebox and some pillows,” Hibbert told the commission.
He said the objects were emerging from the water, helping the team verify that it had reached the area where the vessel was believed to have sunk.
The sixth witness on day three of the COI, Guyana Coast Guard Sub Lieutenant Mahwana Abrams, testified that search-and-rescue teams were deployed along the coastline and between river mouths following the sinking of the MV Barima, with bodies recovered and transported to Charity during the operation.
Abrams said he received instructions on July 19, 2026, from Lieutenant Commander Quincy Agard to report to the Pomeroon floating base and assist with the search.
Abrams, who was stationed at Morawhanna in Region One, said he departed at approximately 10:00 hrs and began searching the coastline towards the Pomeroon River, covering the area from the Waini vicinity southwards. He arrived at the floating base at approximately 16:30 hrs, having found no survivors or significant debris during the journey.
After refuelling, his team resumed searching the waters between the Moruca River mouth and the Pomeroon River mouth, which had been assigned as their area of responsibility.
The commission returns on Monday with important testimony for Coast Guard Commander David Shamsuddeen.
