…Trinidad, Brazil divers to join recovery mission
Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips says divers are searching the sunken MV Barima for any possible survivors who may still be trapped in air pockets inside the vessel.
Speaking during a sit-down interview at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Georgetown, Phillips said the vessel was found sitting on the seabed more than nine miles offshore the Devonshire Castle Flats area, in about 50 feet of water.
“We’ve identified the vessel. The vessel is sitting on the seabed just over nine miles offshore of the Devonshire Castle Flats area, all right, and about 50 feet of water,” the Prime Minister said.
Phillips said divers from Guyana and French Guiana are conducting underwater operations at the wreckage site to search the vessel and determine whether anyone remains trapped inside.
“We have divers, and we have divers from Guyana, divers from French Guyana, who, as I speak, are conducting their diving operations to search the vessel and to rescue or recover any passengers who remain on the vessel,” Phillips stated.
The Prime Minister said experts advised that a vessel like the MV Barima could contain pockets of air, meaning divers must search every compartment carefully.
“We were advised that a vessel like this will have pockets of air, so they have to go through the vessel and search every compartment of the vessel to see if there’s anybody who’s still clinging to life there,” he said.
Phillips acknowledged that divers are also expected to recover bodies that may be trapped inside the vessel.
He said the overall objective remains to rescue anyone still alive and recover all passengers who did not survive.
“The purpose of this operation at this stage is to recover, and as I said, rescue anybody who’s out there and recover all the passengers, all 179 passengers who were there on the vessel,” the Prime Minister said.
According to Phillips, authorities have confirmed that 179 persons were aboard the MV Barima when it sank. Of that number, 77 have been rescued, 41 bodies have been recovered, and 63 persons are still deemed missing.
He said 23 of the recovered bodies had been positively identified with the assistance of families, while hotlines are being used to help relatives provide information and travel to Suddie to assist with identification.
Phillips said additional international assistance is also expected. A boat from Trinidad and Tobago with more divers is expected to arrive Wednesday morning, while another vessel from Brazil with additional divers is expected Wednesday afternoon.
The Prime Minister said the search area has also been expanded as authorities continue looking for survivors and victims. He noted that the initial search area of 400 square kilometres was first expanded to 1,070 square kilometres and later to 1,470 square kilometres.
Phillips said the operation remains focused on rescue, recovery and bringing closure to families, while the Government prepares for an independent investigation into what led to the tragedy.
