The Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard received coordinates from the emergency beacon linked to the MV Barima eight minutes after the first satellite distress alert reached the Timehri Control Tower, the Commission of Inquiry into the tragedy heard on Wednesday.
However, while the beacon transmitted its location and unique identification code, witnesses said its registration information did not identify it as being aboard the Barima.
The evidence emerged as the Commission began substantive hearings into the vessel’s capsizing and sinking, including the adequacy of search, rescue and recovery operations.
Aeronautical Information Services Officer Tia Valenzuela, who handled the alerts that night, testified that the first message arrived from the United States Mission Control Centre at 10:43 p.m. on July 18.
She sent the coordinates by WhatsApp to the Coast Guard’s operations mobile at 10:51 p.m. and received a response within one minute.
Her first-hand account followed testimony from Director of Air Navigation Services at the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Rickford Samaroo, who said staff had subsequently advised him that the Maritime Administration Department, Coast Guard and lighthouse were notified within five minutes.
Valenzuela’s account placed notification of the lighthouse at 11:01 p.m. and Commander David Shamsudeen at 11:07 p.m.
At 11:13 p.m., the Coast Guard advised that one of its vessels was heading out. A formal email followed at 11:14 p.m., while Shamsudeen acknowledged at 11:23 p.m.
Explaining how incoming distress messages are detected, Valenzuela said an audible alarm alerts personnel at the tower.
“In the distress message mailbox, there’s a continuous beep that usually goes off loud enough for anyone to hear in the office. So once it’s continuous, we already know it’s a distress alert,” she told the Commission.
Further alerts arrived while she plotted the coordinates, with each message requiring acknowledgement.
“If we don’t do it, the US MCC will eventually call us and ask us why we’re taking so long to respond. So, it’s a very timely operation,” Valenzuela said.
The Commission also heard that the beacon was registered in the United States, but the associated registration record did not connect it specifically to the MV Barima.
Witnesses distinguished between the beacon’s HEX code—the unique identifier transmitted with the distress alert—and the separate registration information containing vessel, ownership and emergency contact details.
Samaroo explained that satellite messages provide the beacon’s identification code and geographical coordinates, which can then be relayed to emergency responders.
He said he learnt of the incident around 1 a.m. on July 19, when the authority’s Director General informed him that a vessel might be in distress and that two aircraft had been authorised to investigate.
According to Samaroo, staff were required to notify him immediately about aircraft distress signals, but there was no equivalent requirement for alerts involving vessels.
Meanwhile, commissioners questioned Valenzuela about staffing. She said she was the only trained officer on duty, accompanied by two trainees, after a colleague was permitted to leave early.
Asked how she managed the workload, she replied, “It wasn’t hard,” explaining that she was accustomed to handling several tasks simultaneously.
She also clarified that her role was to relay alerts and document responses.
“We’re just responsible for sending the information to [the] GDF, Lighthouse, and Commander [David] Shamsudeen, and document their feedback,” she said.
Her witness statement, including messages, was admitted into evidence.
The five-member Commission, chaired by Justice Godfrey Phillip Smith of Belize, requested the relevant standard operating procedures, an after-action report and the complete communications record from the first alert through the close of operations on the afternoon of July 19.
