Captain and two officials charged with 72 murders over MV Barima ferry sinking in Guyana

The captain, chief mate, and a loading superintendent face 72 murder counts over the July 18 MV Barima disaster that killed at least 73 people.

Three charged with murder over deadly MV Barima ferry disaster

The captain of the MV Barima and two other officials appeared in court on Tuesday facing 72 murder charges over the July 18 ferry sinking that killed at least 73 people and left more than 30 others missing and feared dead, caribbeannationalweekly.com reports.

Police charged 40-year-old captain Kevin Price, 42-year-old chief mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts, and 33-year-old Delon Granderson — loading superintendent at the Transport and Harbours Department — with 72 counts of murder each.

The three men appeared before Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates' Court, where the charges were read aloud. They were not required to enter pleas and were remanded to prison until August 3, 2026.

Price, who commanded the 87-year-old vessel, broke down in tears during the hearing, saying he did not understand the charges against him and insisting that known problems with the ferry had gone unaddressed.

"I don't deserve this, Father God. Father God, you answer my prayers this morning, answer my prayers, Father God. I don't deserve this, please," Price said in court.

He stated that deficiencies aboard the vessel had been documented since 2022, including the absence of a radar system and a search-and-rescue transponder. "Everybody know that's an 87-year-old vessel. The vessel got a lot of issues. The vessel don't have a radar. The vessel don't have a search-and-rescue transponder," he said.

Defence challenges overloading claim and pace of investigation

Attorney Dexter Todd, representing all three accused, told reporters the defence would seek early disclosure of evidence. "We know so far that the disclosure is that 72 bodies were recovered and so they were charged for all 72 of those deaths," Todd said. He added that prosecutors had narrated during the hearing which defendant held what responsibility and that the boat was allegedly overloaded.

Todd directly challenged the overloading allegation, citing a public statement by the minister responsible for transport and harbours. "We had the minister who is responsible for transport and harbours come out on public television and say that the boat was not overloaded, and that was so pronounced," he said. He further argued that establishing the vessel's actual load capacity would require evidence beyond the loading manifest.

The attorney also criticised the timeline of the investigation, arguing that a case of this complexity could not have been fully concluded so quickly. "The complexity of this matter, you could not have completed an investigation in this matter in such a short time," Todd said.

He contended that the police had pre-empted the Commission of Inquiry that was established to examine the circumstances of the disaster. "The police have now done what the Commission of Inquiry is supposed to do and they have already come to a definitive conclusion on this matter," he said.

Todd raised an additional concern about Price's ability to testify before the inquiry. "The primary person who will have to talk is the captain of the vessel, who would have to appear before the COI. Now this man is in prison and that is what they hope to do, to drag him from prison in bangles and shackles before a COI," he said.

The defence indicated it intends to raise preliminary legal arguments once disclosure is provided on August 3, with Todd describing the charges as unfair and unjust.

Guyana's deadliest recent maritime disaster

The MV Barima sank on July 18 in what authorities have described as one of Guyana's deadliest maritime disasters in recent history. Rescue and recovery operations were still ongoing at the time of the court appearance, with dozens of passengers remaining unaccounted for and feared dead.

Source: Google News GY — Crime