Dozens feared dead in Guyana after ferry carrying 133 people capsizes

A passenger ferry carrying at least 133 people has capsized off the coast of Guyana, with rescue teams saving 67 people as they searched to find dozens more still missing at sea.

No survivors have been found since Sunday afternoon, when authorities said rescuers had saved 41 men, 11 women, six boys and nine girls.

Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said search and rescue was still in progress.

“To the families that are out there wondering about their loved ones, we are doing everything that is humanly possible to find them,” he said.

The MV Barima, which had 116 passengers and 17 crew members, capsized off the North Atlantic coast, approximately seven miles from shore, while traveling from the capital Georgetown to the village of Port Kaituma, authorities said.

Air traffic control received a distress call from the ferry about 11pm on Saturday (03:00 GMT on Sunday), triggering a search and rescue operation.

Edghill said early responses were hampered by the darkness and lack of vessels with scanners that could search for survivors, leaving rescuers reliant on eyesight and sound.

Companies in the oil and gas sector have since deployed vessels with scanners and the government has activated divers to enter the ferry to search for bodies, Edghill said. Authorities have also expanded the search area from 400 square km (154 square miles) to 1,040 square km (401 square miles).

Edghill initially insisted on Sunday afternoon that there was no sign of “neglect” on the part of the ferry operator. But on Sunday evening, he said the captain and several other crew members had tested positive for marijuana.

They were all now in police custody, he said.

In addition, a number of people who were rescued were not listed on the ferry’s manifest, suggesting inaccuracies in the ferry’s passenger list.

The authorities are listing the other 66 people as missing, rather than dead.

Leon Murray, a passenger on the ferry, told local news outlet Ignite News that about four hours after leaving Georgetown, someone shouted that the boat was sinking.

After the boat capsized, Murray managed to swim to the surface, where he used a life jacket to keep himself afloat. He drifted and shouted for help and found his son and three others holding on to a floating box.

Murray said he and his son survived, but his wife, daughter and four grandchildren have not been found. “Six of them gone,” he said.

The ferry was built in 1939, according to the shipping website VesselFinder. It had maintenance in 2024 and was due for dry docking – the process of temporarily taking a ship out of water to inspect and repair problems – later this year, authorities said.

Guyanese Prime Minister Mark Phillips said an investigation had been launched into wrongdoing, involving members of the police force, defence force and maritime administration department.

“Let me be absolutely clear. Were negligence, misconduct or criminal wrongdoing established, those responsible will face the full force of the law,” he said.