A satellite distress alert linked to the MV Barima set off a chain of emergency communications and a Coast Guard rescue response, with 26 people reported saved by 5:30 the following morning, the Commission of Inquiry heard on Wednesday.
Officers at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport’s control tower described what they did after receiving the alert. They first mapped the coordinates of the signals and passed that information on to the Guyana Defence Force’s Coast Guard. They continued providing the updated locations through the night.
The commission heard that the beacon aboard the MV Barima was registered in the United States, but its registration record lacked owner and contact information identifying it as being on the Barima. Witnesses said the absence of that information prevented them from contacting the owner directly.
However, they said they treated the signal with the highest priority and passed it on to frontline rescue units.
The first message arrived at 10:43 p.m. on July 18 from the United States Mission Control Centre in Suitland, Maryland, which processes satellite distress signals and routes them to the relevant authorities. The centre is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and acts as a coordinator of the rescue chain.
Aeronautical Information Services Officer Tia Valenzuela, who was on duty at the Timehri control tower on the night of July 18, said an audible alarm alerted staff to the incoming distress message.
At 10:51 p.m., she sent the beacon’s coordinates by WhatsApp to the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard’s operations mobile. The Coast Guard acknowledged the message within one minute.
Further satellite messages arrived as she worked, and each had to be acknowledged immediately.
Valenzuela notified the lighthouse at 11:01 p.m. and Commander David Shamsudeen at 11:07 p.m. At 11:13 p.m., the Coast Guard advised that one of its vessels was heading out.
Her colleague, Saskia Trapp, took over the distress-alert desk shortly before midnight and continued passing updated coordinates to the Coast Guard.
Trapp told the commission that she called with the latest location at 12:36 a.m. on July 19. At 1:34 a.m., the Coast Guard advised that another patrol had been sent from its headquarters.
She continued relaying updated positions until 2:37 a.m. The last satellite alert had been detected at about 2:09 a.m.; when asked, she could not say why the beacon stopped transmitting.
At 5:30 a.m., Trapp received a WhatsApp message from Coast Guard Operations reporting that a vessel was at the search location and that 26 people had been saved.
“Please be informed that GDF 1034 is at the search and rescue location after saving 26 persons. Search is still ongoing,” the message read.
Trapp explained that the missing registration details limited what officers could establish about the emergency. They could not contact the owner directly or determine from that information what kind of vessel was involved or how many people were aboard.
Nevertheless, she said, every alert is treated as a distress.
Both officers explained that the tower’s job was to relay information and record responses. The Coast Guard was responsible for conducting the maritime search and rescue operation.
Director of Air Navigation Services Rickford Samaroo told the inquiry that around 1 a.m., the authority’s Director General informed him that two aircraft had been dispatched to investigate.
The Commission requested operating procedures, an after-action report and the complete communications record as it examines the handling of the emergency and the wider search, rescue and recovery effort.
Hearings continue on Thursday, October 15, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.