MV Barima sailed without MARAD permit, was unfit – Safety Director

November 12 2026

Director of Maritime Safety at the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), Courtney McDonald, has placed the spotlight squarely on the wording of a November 2025 inspection report, testifying that Marine Superintendent Christopher Bailey never stated the ill-fated MV Barima was unfit to make another voyage.

Taking the stand before the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) investigating the sinking and capsizing of the state-owned vessel, McDonald faced pointed questioning from Commission Counsel Arudranauth Gossai regarding why the ship was allowed to remain in service despite documented defects. According to McDonald, the report submitted to him by Bailey contained no explicit recommendation or directive indicating that the vessel should be grounded.

“The report did not indicate that the vessel was not supposed to go on a voyage,” McDonald told the Commission, maintaining that while some of the flagged deficiencies were classified as “high priority,” he could not definitively conclude from the document alone that the ship was unsafe to depart.

Explaining his review of the November 2025 filing, McDonald said he relied heavily on Bailey’s written remarks noting that the ferry was already undergoing maintenance at the time of inspection. “I observed the certificates that were not seen, I also considered the regulation that the vessel is being examined under… I went to the Inspector’s comments, and saw that Inspector’s comments said the vessel was under maintenance,” he testified.

Based on those comments, McDonald said he operated under the assumption that the Transport and Harbours Department (THD) would resolve the issues before returning the vessel to active duty. He confirmed that he forwarded Bailey’s report to THD in November 2025, expecting the agency to complete the necessary repairs and summon MARAD inspectors to verify the work prior to any departure.

Because the last official record available to his office indicated the MV Barima was under maintenance, McDonald admitted he did not instruct his staff to conduct follow-up checks with THD after November. Under standard procedure, he explained, no strict deadline is imposed on THD; instead, the department is obligated to notify MARAD once repairs are finalized so verification can take place.

McDonald further revealed that MARAD lacks any tracking infrastructure to detect if a vessel with outstanding deficiencies leaves port without authorization. “We would not know if you depart to go somewhere, it means that you didn’t have the approval, we wouldn’t know that you departed, there is no tracking if you move from the wharf to go somewhere,” he testified, adding that without a follow-up call from THD or a vessel monitoring system, MARAD had no idea the MV Barima was operating.