Dear Editor,
Within weeks of each other this summer, two catastrophic ferry disasters claimed over 160 lives across the Global South: at least 92 died in Zimbabwe after the ferry on Lake Kariba capsized, and 77 were killed when the MV Barima capsized and sank off the coast of Guyana. While separated by continents, these tragedies reveal a chilling pattern of systemic negligence, broken governance, and the disposability of lives in developing nations.
The Zimbabwe ferry was carrying an estimated 153 people when it left Kariba town harbour, but its maximum authorised capacity was for just 90 passengers. The vessel served as a vital lifeline for remote fishing communities along the lake, connecting them to food supplies, markets and essential services. Most heartbreaking: eighteen children were among more those killed.
In Guyana, the 87-year-old vessel, MV Barima, left Georgetown for Port Kaituma on Saturday but began taking on water and capsized off the Essequibo coast. Like its Zimbabwean counterpart, although its manifest listed 133 people, authorities now believe as many as 179 were aboard. Moreover, passengers have also alleged the ferry was dangerously overloaded with people and heavy cargo, including engines, vehicles, fuel containers and commercial goods.
Both disasters reveal two critical failures that were not accidents of circumstance, but deliberate choices embedded in how these operations functioned:
Both ferries operated far beyond their authorized capacity—not out of necessity, but out of greed. The Zimbabwe ferry was carrying an estimated 153 people when it left Kariba town harbour, but its maximum authorised capacity was for just 90 passengers. In Guyana, the pattern was identical: although its manifest listed 133 people, authorities now believe as many as 179 were aboard. Each additional passenger represented profit—and each one increased the likelihood of disaster.
Most damning is that both crews received explicit danger signals and chose to ignore them. In Zimbabwe, survivors said they pleaded in vain with the captain of the overloaded ferry to turn back from strong waves shortly before it capsized. In Guyana, the negligence was equally willful: survivors have told reporters that the ferry encountered engine problems just hours after its departure but that crews fixed it en route instead of turning back. Moreover, the MV Barima was taking in water but that crews had dismissed this as “normal.”
These were not mechanical failures or unavoidable accidents. These were deliberate operational choices—captains and crew prioritizing schedules and profit over the lives entrusted to their care.
Most appalling: Guyana had already purchased a replacement vessel. In April 2023, President Ali personally commissioned a new India-built ferry, the MV Ma Lisha, costing roughly US$12.7 million and financed with Indian government support, explicitly to replace the aging Barima on the Port Kaituma route. Yet more than three years later, the Ma Lisha had still never sailed that route when the Barima went down due to infrastructure delays.
These are not accidents of fate—they are crimes of negligence. President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in a condolence message, acknowledged that the tragedy had “exposed serious deficiencies in our maritime capabilities which we have to address immediately so that our places of recreation do not become death traps to the innocent.” Yet knowing words after 92 bodies have been recovered rings hollow.
The families waiting in Guyana’s northern town of Charity deserve more than investigations and inquiries. The fishing communities of Lake Kariba deserve more than promises of reform. They deserve governments that prioritize human life over budget constraints, that maintain infrastructure before tragedy strikes, and that hold themselves accountable before—not after—disaster claims their loved ones.
Until the nations of the Global South demand that their governments treat maritime safety with the seriousness afforded to wealthy nations, these preventable tragedies will continue to accumulate. Two disasters in two weeks is not coincidence. It is a call to action.
Sincerely,
Keith Bernard
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