By: Staff Writer
July 31, 2026
The MV Barima’s captain and first engineer have both tested positive for narcotics after their arrest and charged with murder.
The captain and engineer along with another crew member of the passenger ferry MV Barima in Guyana that capsized were charged with murder on Tuesday, more than a week after the disaster killed 73 people and left 30 others still missing.
The MV Barima, an 87-year-old ship, sank on July 18 while traveling from the capital, Georgetown, to the northwestern village of Port Kaituma.
The men were not required to enter pleas, had no legal representation, and will appear before the court once again on August 3.
Following the accident, Prime Minister Mark Phillips said the three men had tested positive for marijuana use.
Captain Kevin Price, 40, and crew members Rondell Dwayne Roberts, 42, and Delon Granderson, 33, appeared before a Georgetown court on murder charges, police said.
As of yesterday afternoon, reports indicated that 67 people had been rescued, while dozens were feared dead.
“The identification process includes the involvement of relatives and will be done at the Suddie Hospital. The Government remains fully committed to the operation and continues to deploy all available resources to locate and account for every person who was aboard the MV Barima at the time of the tragic incident,” a statement from the Guyana government said.
The disaster has prompted a wide-ranging investigation into the ferry services, which are run by the Transport and Harbours Department under the Ministry of Public Works. President Irfaan Ali has announced a commission of inquiry into the accident.
Authorities say 76 passengers and crew members were rescued from the MV Barima. They believe 179 people were on board when the ferry sank.
Following the accident, Prime Minister Mark Phillips said two of the crew members, including the captain, had tested positive for marijuana. He also said many on board had not been listed on the vessel’s passenger manifest. The vessel, however, had been deemed seaworthy and had kept up with its maintenance schedule, he added.
On Sunday, the government of Guyana set up a five-person commission of international legal and maritime experts to investigate the incident.
Opposition lawmakers have loudly called for the resignations of numerous government officials at ministries responsible for ports and for ferry services.
Although the aging MV Barima was deemed seaworthy and had a clean maintenance record, survivors reported that it was overfilled with passengers and cargo when it sank and that it had been leaking.
Though the commission is tasked with looking into those charges, the vessel itself lies on the Atlantic seabed, some 50 feet (15 meters) below the surface. Prime Minister Mark Phillips has said the vessel will not likely be salvaged.
Government officials say the MV Barima is only still in use because construction of a new Port Kaituma pier large enough to accommodate a replacement vessel recently purchased from India has not yet been completed.