Police in Guyana filed murder charges on Tuesday against the captain and two crew members of a state ferry that capsized, killing more than 70 people, with 30 passengers still missing. The accused are Captain Kevin Price, 40, chief mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts, 42, and cargo superintendent Delon Granderson, 33. They appeared in court on Tuesday morning but were not required to enter pleas. No attorneys were present for them.
Who Pays When the Ferry Goes Down
Authorities believe 179 people were aboard the ferry that departed the capital, Georgetown, on July 18 and capsized in Atlantic waters before reaching its destination, the northern town of Port Kaituma near Venezuela. It was the South American nation’s worst maritime disaster on record. Prime Minister Mark Phillips told Parliament late Monday that while 77 people were rescued, one of those passengers recently died.
The numbers tell the story the officials would rather keep buried. More than 70 dead. Thirty still missing. Seventy-seven rescued, then one of them dies later. A state ferry, carrying passengers and cargo, went under in Atlantic waters, and the people at the bottom of the hierarchy paid first.
What the Government Says It’s Doing
On Sunday, Guyana’s government announced the creation of a five-person commission made up of international legal and marine experts tasked with investigating the sinking of the 87-year-old MV Barima. That’s the official response: a commission, a courtroom, and a search for someone to pin the wreckage on while the vessel itself sits 50 feet (15 meters) underwater.
Phillips said it’s likely that the vessel will remain there and not be salvaged. A second hearing is set for Aug. 3 at a court in the western Essequibo region near the sunken wreckage. The machinery of state moves on schedule. The dead don’t.
Overcrowding, Leaks, and the Cost of Delay
The government has said the ferry was still in operation because work is ongoing to build a pier at Port Kaituma to accommodate a new $12.7 million vessel acquired from India in recent months to replace the MV Barima. That replacement was already bought. The old ferry kept running anyway. Survivors told reporters that the ferry was leaking and overcrowded with passengers and cargo, and the government has asked the commission to examine those allegations.
That’s the hierarchy in plain view. A new vessel was on the way, a pier was still under construction, and the old boat stayed in service while people were packed aboard it. The state’s timeline, the state’s procurement, the state’s delays — ordinary people rode the consequences.
During his speech, opposition lawmakers pounded desks and heckled legislators as they called for the resignation of Works Minister Juan Edghill and Junior Minister Indar Persaud, holding them responsible for the disaster. The chamber turned into a theater of blame, with elected officials performing outrage inside the same structure that kept the ferry running.
No attorneys were present when the captain and two crew members appeared in court on Tuesday morning, and they were not required to enter pleas. Police filed murder charges. The government formed a commission. Parliament shouted. The wreckage stayed where it sank.
The MV Barima now lies beneath Atlantic waters, 50 feet down, while the people who survived, the people still missing, and the families left behind wait through hearings, inquiries, and official statements. The state has its process. The disaster has its dead.