The number of people confirmed dead after a passenger ferry capsized off the coast of Guyana on the night of July 18, 2026, has climbed to 65, officials said on July 22, as the chance of finding anyone else alive faded and dozens of passengers remained unaccounted for. Prime Minister Mark Phillips said 76 people had been rescued from the water, while around 100 were feared dead.
According to Phillips, 179 people were aboard the MV Barima when it went down — far more than the manifest reflected. That document listed 116 passengers and 17 crew members. The discrepancy between who was recorded and who was actually on the vessel has become a central thread in an unfolding investigation into how the disaster happened.
Guyana’s authorities revised the toll on July 21 from 41 to 53, and Prime Minister Mark Phillips said on July 22 it had climbed to 65, with around 50 people still missing. Search crews continued scouring the wreckage site, and by July 23, 19 vessels and three aircraft had been deployed, with divers from Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago joining French and local crews. Small private boats also proved critical, pulling at least 17 survivors from the sea.
A Crowded, Aging Vessel
The ferry departed Georgetown, the nation’s capital, Saturday afternoon and was traveling to Port Kaituma, a gold mining town in the inland Essequibo region. The 40-meter (131-foot) vessel was built in 1939, according to a listing on the shipping website VesselFinder — making the ferry 87 years old at the time it capsized.
Boats traveling that route typically head out to sea before entering a river to reach Port Kaituma, which sits deep within a dense rainforest in the north of the country. A distress call came in at 23:01 local time (03:01 GMT on July 19), setting off a search operation that combined government teams with privately owned boats.
Guyana’s Public Works Minister Juan Edghill characterized the incident as the nation’s most devastating maritime catastrophe in recent decades and said authorities were doing everything possible to locate those still missing. At least 15 children were among those rescued.
A Survivor’s Account
Elena Moonsammy, a survivor, told the local news site Kiskadee Watch that the ferry tilted after being struck by a large wave, with water rushing in almost immediately. It began taking on water within seconds, she said.
Moonsammy said she stayed afloat by clinging to a box drifting among the debris. She had tried to keep hold of the hand of her 2-year-old child, but the two were separated in the chaos. Even so, she managed to save a woman, urging her to also grab onto the floating box.
Neighboring French Guiana contributed to the rescue as well, with the French army sending 12 divers, two doctors and a mechanic to aid the operation.
Investigation and Arrests
An investigation is underway to determine what caused the ferry to capsize. Authorities have pointed to the incomplete passenger list and possible drug use among crew members as factors that may have contributed to the disaster. Police arrested the vessel’s captain and at least one additional crew member following positive marijuana test results.
At a July 19 press conference, Edghill voiced outrage after two crew members’ drug tests revealed cannabis use. He emphasized the government’s zero-tolerance policy for crew members working under the influence and called the captain’s positive test result particularly serious.
Phillips warned that “where negligence, misconduct or criminal wrongdoing is established, those responsible will face the full force of the law.”
The vessel had been headed toward the Essequibo region, an area at the center of a long-running territorial dispute between Guyana and neighboring Venezuela over the oil-rich territory. Guyana, a small English-speaking nation at the northeastern corner of South America, has repeatedly clashed with its larger neighbor over claims to Essequibo.
For now, the priority remains the water off the coast, where relatives and friends of the missing have been anxiously awaiting word. As the days pass, that wait has grown more grim. With 65 confirmed dead and 76 rescued, the arithmetic against the 179 believed to have been aboard leaves dozens still unaccounted for — and diminishing hope that they will be found alive.