For days after the sinking of the MV Barima, while families anxiously waited for news of missing loved ones, dozens of fishermen from communities along the Essequibo Coast and Pomeroon left their homes and livelihoods behind to assist in the search and recovery operation.
Several of those volunteers have now spoken publicly about the emotional toll of retrieving bodies from the water, saying they had hoped to find survivors instead. They are also calling on authorities to make greater use of local fishermen during future maritime emergencies, arguing that their knowledge of the rivers and surrounding waters could significantly improve search efforts.
One fisherman David Freeman recalled that he became involved almost immediately after learning of the tragedy.
According to him, at approximately 6:00 a.m. on the Sunday following the sinking, his employer contacted him and instructed him to prepare for the search operation.
“The boss called me around six o’clock Sunday morning and said, ‘You have to go out to sea.’”
He explained that three boats were quickly organised and a sailor was assigned to accompany the team. Before heading to the search area, they approached the Guyana Coast Guard requesting fuel to sustain the operation. They were later directed to Charity, where fuel was loaded before they continued their journey.
Because of the time spent organising supplies, the team was unable to make it back to the search area that same day. However, they returned early the following morning determined to continue looking for the missing passengers.
Working alongside the Coast Guard and other search teams, the fisherman said they eventually located a body in the water.
The recovery, he said, is something he will never forget.
“I feel very sad because I was really looking to take up life. I’m looking to save people, not to recover the dead.”
The body was retrieved and handed over to the Guyana Coast Guard before the volunteers returned to continue searching.
Although none of his own relatives had been aboard the MV Barima, the fisherman said he felt a responsibility to help because he understood the unimaginable pain families were enduring.
“People want to find their loved ones, whether dead or alive. If I lost my family, I would want somebody to find them too.”
He admitted that despite spending days at sea, the experience continues to weigh heavily on him emotionally.
“I’m still hurting because of what we saw.”
The volunteer believes local fishermen should play a much greater role in search-and-rescue operations, noting that they possess years of practical knowledge about the waterways, currents and likely drift patterns.
“The government should use more fishermen. They know where they’re going and what they’re about. If you find somebody, you can bring them in, refuel and head right back out. We know these waters.”
Another volunteer fisherman Errol shared a similar experience.
He said when news of the disaster reached him, he immediately decided to join the search despite not knowing whether any of his own family members had been aboard the vessel.
“I didn’t know if anyone from my family was on the boat because I had no contact with them. I just decided to go and search.”
He said the tragedy was one that could have affected anyone.
“It could happen to anybody. It could happen to everyone.”
The fisherman joined a search crew aboard the vessel Sowa Chin, spending several consecutive days combing the search area.
Between Monday and Wednesday alone, he said the team recovered seven bodies before transferring them to the Coast Guard.
Asked about the condition of the victims they found, he described a heartbreaking scene.
“Most of them had no clothes—much less life jackets.”
His account echoed concerns previously raised by survivors who have alleged that many passengers were not equipped with life-saving devices when the vessel sank.
Reflecting on the overall recovery effort, the fisherman said he was not entirely satisfied with how the operation unfolded.
While acknowledging the work of emergency responders, he believes authorities could have acted more effectively by relying more heavily on experienced local fishermen from surrounding communities.
“They should have handled it better.”
For the volunteers, the mission was never about recognition.
Instead, they said they were driven by a simple hope—that every family, no matter how painful the outcome, would eventually receive answers about the fate of their loved ones.
Their stories paint a sobering picture of the days following Guyana’s deadliest maritime disaster, where ordinary fishermen became part of an extraordinary recovery effort, enduring emotional trauma as they searched not for strangers, but for fellow Guyanese whose families desperately awaited their return.
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