GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — Preliminary reports suggest that a massive wave may have caused the MV Barima to capsize on Saturday night while en route to Port Kaituma, a small village in Guyana’s Barima-Waini Region, according to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill.

The vessel was carrying 116 passengers and a crew of 17. As of Sunday, authorities had rescued 67 people, and Edghill expressed confidence that everyone on board would be accounted for.

Speaking with the children of crew member Richard Moe Sr, the minister said preliminary information indicated that a large wave was the likely cause of the incident.

“It’s a big wave. That’s all we hear. It’s from everybody who hears it. But there will be a full investigation into what happened. I don’t want to pressure you to investigate it. I simply want to explain it,” Edghill told the children.

“We wanted to be certain that it wasn’t hit by any foreign object or it didn’t hit anything. We wanted to establish that. Everybody said it was so-so, and I must tell you, even in the communication, because the phone signals had already been breaking up, so I don’t even want to hold people to what we may have heard,” he added.

“So, your father…let’s hope and pray that he’s coming in soon. We pray for that. We pray for all the other crew members. Everybody. Everybody. We want everybody to be here,” Edhgill said.

The minister also dismissed what he described as misinformation circulating about the cause of the accident.

“There was no engine problem or any mechanical problem. Even the survivors who made videos from the hospital are telling you what happened, and it had nothing to do with overload or taking in water,” he said.

Edghill emphasised that the MV Barima was operating well within its licensed capacity.

“It had to do with the tide. Please be advised that the MV Barima is licensed to carry 284 tonnes of cargo. The cargo manifest shows that we had 268 tonnes, way below the cargo load.

“The MV Barima is licensed to carry 397 passengers and we only had 116 passengers on board. The misinformation of overloading as the cause of this incident must be dealt with for what it is. Misinformation and something to create panic and public mischief and we deny that in the very strongest terms,” he explained.

Earlier, during a news conference, Edghill cautioned that it was still too early to draw definitive conclusions about several aspects of the incident, including the identities of those rescued.

He added that Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony is coordinating a major medical response across Regions Two and Three, with healthcare personnel on standby to treat survivors as they arrive.

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Department of Public Information (DPI) reported that the search-and-rescue operation had made significant progress, with 67 people—including 15 children—rescued as emergency teams continued their efforts.