MARAD says no firm selected as yet to raise MV Barima

What this source establishes

MARAD's first public statement since 24 July, and it is a denial about the procurement rather than anything about the ship. It says no individual, company or entity has been selected, calls reports of pre-selection false and misleading efforts to create public mischief, and confirms the 14 August deadline. What it does not do is address the leaked proposal itself: the allegation was that a firm had been invited before bidding opened, and the denial answers whether one has been selected. The regulator has now gone more than a fortnight without addressing the certificate it has never produced, the master's allegation about its own inspection, or the maintenance records reported four days later.

Key claims

• **MARAD breaks fifteen days of silence — to issue a denial.** Its last substantive public statement in this corpus was 24 July. On 8 August it states that **"no individual, company, or entity has been selected to undertake the salvaging"**, and characterises reports suggesting pre-selection as **"FALSE and MISLEADING"** efforts to **"create public mischief"**.
• It states that any selection will occur strictly through official public procurement procedures, that the Expression of Interest was publicly advertised from **2 August** across state media, private outlets and social platforms, and that the deadline is **14 August 2026**.
• **[UNRESOLVED] MARAD does not address the leaked KMS proposal**, does not say whether the firm was invited before the advertisement, and does not say whether any other firm was similarly approached. The denial answers whether a firm has been *selected*; the allegation was that one had been *invited*.
• **The regulator's first public words in a fortnight concern the procurement, not the vessel.** It has still said nothing about the certificate this archive has recorded as never produced, nothing about the master's allegation of 29 July regarding its own inspection, and nothing about the internal maintenance records reported on 12 August.

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