Dear Editor,
The head of the French Navy diving team at the wreck of the MV Barima stated that the wreck site was swept by strong current and being covered in silt. So it was simply too dangerous to try to enter the wreck when the divers could hardly see an arm’s length in front of them (https://guyanachronicle.com/2026/07/27/french-divers-say-zero-visibility-powerful-currents-hampering-mv-barima-recovery/ ).
So to retrieve the drowned passengers the wreck has to be moved, and preferably raised. Fortunately there is a heavy-lift vessel now (25 July) at Chaguaramas, Trinidad, on its way to help the installation of mooring anchors for the FPSO ‘One Guyana’, on contract to SBM Offshore. MARAD Notice to Mariners number 123 (2026) 17 July confirms that this vessel will be on station just 101 nautical miles off our coast.
Lifting the sunken MV Barima will allow retrieval of the bodies of loved ones.
I call on the government (President Ali, Prime Minister Phillips, MPW Edghill) to immediately requisition this vessel (see https://maritimeoptima.com/public/vessels/pages/imo:9328819/mmsi:257583000/NORMAND_INSTALLER.html for a sight of its huge cranes) and direct it to the wreck of the MV Barima ferry.
Yours truly,
Janette Bulkan
