The MV Barima Predates Guyana's Independence By 27 Years

What this source establishes

A News Americas Now historical context piece giving the fullest press account in this corpus of the vessel's colonial provenance: constructed in 1939 at the Ferguson Brothers shipyard, Port Glasgow, 27 years before independence on 26 May 1966, as part of a three-ship order placed via the Crown Agents for the Colonies for British Guiana Railways' Transport and Harbors Department, with sister ships Pomeroon and Lady Northcote, twin-screw and cruising at about 8.5 knots. Its details match the Paxman engine register almost item for item. It compares the disaster to the MV Christena sinking of 1 August 1970 between St Kitts and Nevis, which killed 233.

Key claims

• Constructed 1939 at Ferguson Brothers shipyard, Port Glasgow, Scotland — 27 years before independence on 26 May 1966
• Commissioned as part of a three-ship order via the Crown Agents for the Colonies for British Guiana Railways' Transport and Harbors Department
• Sister ships were the Pomeroon and Lady Northcote
• Twin-screw, cruising speed about 8.5 knots, built for modest colonial-era loads
• Carried 179 people and cargo when she capsized
• Compares the disaster to the MV Christena sinking of 1 August 1970 between St Kitts and Nevis, which killed 233
• PM Mark Phillips confirmed investigation into potential criminal negligence and institutional failures in the maritime administration

Vessel facts recorded

• fact: Constructed in 1939 at Ferguson Brothers shipyard, Port Glasgow, Scotland — 27 years before Guyana's independence on 26 May 1966
• source: https://www.newsamericasnow.com/mv-barima-predates-guyanas-independence/
• fact: Originally commissioned as part of a three-ship order placed through the Crown Agents for the Colonies on behalf of British Guiana Railways' Transport and Harbors Department
• source: https://www.newsamericasnow.com/mv-barima-predates-guyanas-independence/
• fact: Sister ships were the Pomeroon and Lady Northcote
• source: https://www.newsamericasnow.com/mv-barima-predates-guyanas-independence/
• fact: Engineered as a twin-screw vessel with a cruising speed of approximately 8.5 knots
• source: https://www.newsamericasnow.com/mv-barima-predates-guyanas-independence/
• fact: Carried 179 people and cargo when she capsized
• source: https://www.newsamericasnow.com/mv-barima-predates-guyanas-independence/

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