Our hearts bleed for Guyana
THIS PAST WEEKEND was a most tragic one for the people of Guyana that will long remain with their nation. News broke that a government owned ferry carrying 133 passengers and crew had capsized close to midnight on Saturday, July 18, and it has since emerged that the death was high.
The MV Barima was enroute from the capital Georgetown along the northern coast toward Port Kaituma on the north eastern coast of the South American CARICOM member nation. As we close this midweek edition, reports are that some 67 persons had been rescued thus far-41 men, 11 women and 15 children. Some families lost multiple members, in one case a mother is reported to have lost seven children. The search continues using craft from the Guyana Coast Guard with the help of Guyanese fishermen and other craft; and an investigation has since been launched.We can only hope that more survivors are found and reunited with their families, and that the remains of those who perished in that ill-fated ferry incident are recovered.
For us in St Vincent and the Grenadines this tragedy must be a sad reminder of similar incidents of this sort around our archipelago or in the wider Caribbean. One which immediately comes to mind is the August 1, 1970 MV Christena disaster. In that incident it was also a government ferry which capsized on the journey between the islands of St Kitts and Nevis, and a total of 233 souls perished.
That disaster also touched us directly in St Vincent and the Grenadines particularly, as the beloved Kitittian Headmistress of the Girls’ High School Millicent Byron, was among those who perished in this disaster. That incident therefore left an indelible mark on the memory of many Vincentians.
We in our 32 island archipelagic State of St Vincent and the Grenadines depend on ferries to commute daily between the islands of the State, and have established a very commendable safety record of operations. We have students and others who travel daily to and from Bequia for school and work, safely. We do have an excellent ferry service for which we must be thankful.
We, however, have also had our experiences of maritime tragedies over the years.
In more recent years, we recall the sinking of the MV Fair Chance, an SVG registered ship, in rough seas on the way to Trinidad from Grenada in April, 2022. In that tragedy only two of the seven man crew were saved. And, only two years ago, as the fury of Hurricane Beryl tore through the Southern Grenadines, the MV Guidance ll went missing. Its five-member crew, all Vincentians, have not been found. The families of those who perished on board these and other ferry incidents, no doubt, still deeply mourn the deaths of their loved ones especially in the absence of bodies for burial, providing some measure of closure.
Despite these tragic incidents, however, in SVG we have much for which to be thankful.
Given the number of trips made daily between the waters of the Grenadines, and between the Grenadines and the mainland, we have maintained a remarkable safety record. We however, should continue to maintain the strictest safety standards while at sea and not at any time be lulled into a sense of complacency.
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