‘Hawkeye’: Shamsudeen details expanding MV Barima search aimed at ‘speed, stealth, manoeuvrability, accuracy’
The search-and-rescue operation following the MV Barima tragedy was dubbed “Hawkeye,” Coast Guard Commander David Shamsudeen testified on Tuesday, outlining an expanding response that mobilised seven Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard vessels and six civilian craft.
Giving evidence before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Shamsudeen said “speed, stealth, manoeuvrability and accuracy” were considerations in selecting vessels for the response. He reported that 69 survivors were rescued and 73 deceased persons were recovered during the operation.
Shamsudeen outlined how vessels were assigned specific search areas, while the Maritime Administration Department’s pilot vessel served as a central point – “a mother ship” – for transferring and transporting survivors.
Rescuers took people from the water aboard the pilot vessel, which at one stage carried about 50 survivors before travelling to the Pomeroon floating base. They were subsequently transported to the forward operating base at Charity, where a medical facility was available.
The commander said the wider operation also received assistance from regional partners, including a Trinidad and Tobago offshore patrol vessel and a Brazilian Navy frigate. Civilian support included a vessel dispatched from Georgetown and fishing boats from the Pomeroon and Bonasika areas.
Search planning drew on chart analysis, sea conditions, tidal movements and the Coast Guard’s experience operating in the area, Shamsudeen testified. The general search area, some 26,000 nautical miles, was divided into six sub-sectors, with vessels assigned specific sections.
He explained that experience from previous operations and local knowledge of currents helped guide assessments of where floating objects and people might be found.
The wreck site was formally located at 13:51 on July 20, 2026. Search-and-rescue and recovery operations continued until August 3, when the Coast Guard received a directive to discontinue searches.
The testimony forms part of the commission’s examination of the search-and-rescue response, the recovery effort and coordination among the agencies involved in the MV Barima tragedy.
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