The Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the MV Barima disaster is expected to commence in the first week of October, with Kiskadee Watch being told that its secretariat has been operational since August 3.

The secretariat, which is responsible for providing administrative and logistical support to the commission, is located on the second floor of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.

The development comes more than two months after the July 18 capsizing and sinking of the state-owned MV Barima, which claimed 73 lives and left scores of families affected.

The five-member commission was appointed by President Irfaan Ali and sworn in on July 30. It is chaired by former Belizean judge Justice Godfrey Phillip Smith, with forensic naval architect and marine engineer Dr Andrzej Jasionowski, Jamaican master mariner Captain Hamada Fouda, Trinidad and Tobago attorney Nyree Dawn Alfonso and retired Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard Rear Admiral Hayden Pritchard serving as commissioners. Attorney Javed Shadick is serving as secretary to the commission.

The commission’s mandate is broad and includes examining the sequence of events leading to the capsizing and sinking, the immediate and contributing causes of the disaster, the seaworthiness and maintenance history of the vessel, passenger embarkation and manifests, cargo loading, safety requirements, the conduct and competence of the crew and the search-and-rescue response.

It is also expected to determine whether negligence, misconduct, dereliction of duty or other failures by individuals, entities or institutions contributed to the disaster and to recommend measures to prevent a recurrence.

The commission had initially been expected to begin its substantive work earlier; sometime in September. 

In August, Shadick told Kiskadee Watch that the commission was still undertaking “foundational work”, with administrative arrangements being completed before formal proceedings could begin. At that stage, witnesses had not yet been approached and a formal notice of commencement had not been issued.

By September 2, the commission said it was working towards beginning public hearings and had already secured the Arthur Chung Conference Centre as the venue for those hearings. It also said it had begun obtaining information from the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), Transport and Harbours Department and the Guyana Coast Guard and Air Guard.

The commission also reported that it had started analysing documents concerning the Barima’s seaworthiness, the conditions under which it sailed and the operation of its crew, while compiling a list of potential witnesses and preparing an interview schedule.

The MV Barima was an 87-year-old state-owned vessel travelling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma when it capsized off the Essequibo Coast near the mouth of the Pomeroon River on July 18. Concerns have been raised about its maintenance and seaworthiness, passenger numbers and registration, cargo loading, regulatory oversight and the search-and-rescue response.

Internal maintenance and defects records showed mechanical and electrical problems had been documented aboard the vessel between November 2025 and March 2026, including an out-of-service generator, leaking engine exhaust, overheating machinery, defective cooling equipment and deteriorated batteries. Several of the reported problems were marked for urgent attention.

The government had previously said the vessel was maintained in accordance with established procedures and had last been dry-docked in 2024. Tender documents later outlined approximately $124.5 million in proposed repairs to the vessel, including work on its hull plating and framing, cargo hatches, propulsion and steering systems and other components.

The wreck remains on the seabed, with its salvage also emerging as an important issue for the inquiry because of the potential evidentiary value of recovering the vessel.

The government’s salvage process closed on August 14. Three companies subsequently submitted financial bids, with the lowest bid coming from BK International Inc. at approximately $1.034 billion, followed by Industrial Fabrications Inc. at $1.895 billion and Netherlands-based KMS B.V. at $2.035 billion. No salvage contractor has yet been publicly identified. 

The commission’s expected start in October will therefore come as families of those who died and survivors continue to await answers about what caused the tragedy and whether failures occurred before, during or after the vessel’s final voyage.