Guyana urges patience over ferry disaster as opposition calls for minister to resign
Officials say 53 bodies have been recovered and dispute survivors' claims that the MV Barima was overloaded, pending a commission of inquiry.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana. Guyanese authorities are asking an increasingly angry public to wait for the results of an official probe before apportioning blame for the sinking of the government ferry MV Barima, which has claimed dozens of lives.
The 87-year-old vessel, one of several state ferries serving interior communities, sank in the Atlantic about seven hours after leaving Georgetown for Port Kaituma, near Venezuela. It is the Caricom nation's worst maritime disaster on record.
Officials say 76 of the 179 people aboard survived and 53 bodies have been recovered, while teams search for at least 40 more.
Conflicting accounts
Survivors say the ferry was overloaded with people and cargo, including heavy-duty engines, vehicles, large fuel containers and all-terrain vehicles.
Maritime Agency Director Stephen Thomas told a press conference that reports from the wharf indicated the vessel's load line was barely submerged. "If the load line is not submerged, then the vessel is not considered overloaded," he said, concluding it was not overloaded.
Survivor Leon Murray, who said he had made the trip dozens of times, disagreed. "They overload the steamer. It was packed, packed, packed all downstairs," he said.
Murray and others said the engine failed about four hours after the 3.15pm departure, and that instead of turning back the crew repaired it and sailed on. He said crew members dismissed concerns that the vessel was taking in water.
Commission of inquiry
Prime Minister Mark Phillips said a commission of inquiry would be held. "We have nothing to hide," he said. "People will be held responsible based on the outcome, the results, and the recommendations of that commission."
Officials said the Barima had stayed in service while a special pier was completed at Port Kaituma for a new $12.7 million replacement vessel acquired from India. Tenders were already out for the Barima's planned October overhaul.
Calls for resignation
All major opposition parties have called for Public Works Minister Juan Edghill to resign. Phillips said only President Irfaan Ali could decide whether he remains in the cabinet.
