Multi-agency search, rescue effort launched in response to distress alerts from Barima – COI hears

GDF Coast Guard personnel told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Thursday that the search for survivors of the MV Barima rapidly expanded into a multi-agency operation that included 18 vessels, aircraft and regional partners.

Lieutenant (Coast Guard) Rolwyn Heywood, the weekend duty officer at Coast Guard headquarters, Ruimveldt, said a distress alert from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) reached him through regional channels at 10:51 p.m. on Saturday, July 18.

He said he plotted the beacon’s position about 8.25 nautical miles off the Essequibo Coast and used vessel-tracking software to check for ships in the area. By 11:10 pm he directed the Pomeroon base, which was the closest Coast Guard post to the signal, to head to the location. Vessels from that base arrived on scene shortly after 1 a.m.

As more beacon coordinates came in, they were passed on to the Coast Guard vessels in the search area. Lt. Heywood said the search area was determined by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Kingston, which led the overall operation.

Lt. Heywood, an officer with six years’ service, told the Commission he has had maritime search-and-rescue training in India (2022), Colombia (2024) and Trinidad and Tobago (May 2026).

The Coast Guard confirmed the nature of the emergency just after 1 a.m., Lt. Heywood said. The GDFS Shahoud, a 54-metre ship, then left Ruimveldt at about 3:30 a.m. with him aboard as navigation officer. He said the ship could not sail without a full crew, and on a weekend, ranks had to be recalled from as far as Linden and the East Coast.

“That was the fastest possible time that we could have responded to that distress,” he said. “You also have to take [crew] safety into consideration.”

At 7:30 am (July 19), the Shahoud met a fishing vessel carrying 11 survivors and two police ranks. Because the survivors needed urgent medical attention, the Coast Guard directed the boat to shore. The crew later recovered three life rafts, which were empty.

The GDFS Shahoud assumed command of the scene and began coordinating six Coast Guard vessels and 12 civilian vessels, including fishermen who had volunteered.

Civilian boats used emergency Channel 16 to coordinate the search and rescue operation. Lt. Heywood said survivors brought aboard were assessed by a nurse and taken to the nearest medical facility.

Heavy rain and mist cut night visibility to about 500 yards, Lt. Heywood said, and the sea was choppy. He told commissioners that a search area of that size in those conditions required additional air and sea assets.

Earlier, Lieutenant Colonel Anson Weekes of the GDF Air Corps, a pilot with more than 4,000 flight hours, testified that he was called just after midnight. He left Ogle at about 1:45 a.m. in a Bell 407 helicopter with a drone team aboard. Civil aviation regulations bar a single-engine helicopter from flying offshore at night, so he searched the coastline by searchlight.

A GDF Islander aircraft flew over the target area during the night. At daybreak, Lt. Col. Weekes coordinated two search sorties by Omni Helicopters. That evening, Regional Security System aircraft from Barbados joined the search. Between July 20 and August 2, he flew about 10 coastal surveillance flights. On July 20, his crew recovered one body along the shoreline.

Lt. Heywood submitted his electronic chart analysis to the Commission. He agreed to provide the vessel’s tracking data, search maps, photographs and weather records. He said the main vessel’s physical charts were updated every 15 minutes during the operation.

The search-and-rescue operation continued until July 24. A diving operation followed, and the area was closed to protect divers.

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