The MV Barima's capacity was listed at 125 in a maritime emergency response plan, though more than 170 people were believed aboard when it sank in July, an inquiry heard on Thursday.
Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) Emergency Operations Division Coordinator Captain John Flores gave the testimony as the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the tragedy resumed at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Flores said the plan was developed after an International Maritime Organization audit and used a worst-case scenario involving a collision between a large ship and an oil tanker. He told the five-member commission, chaired by retired Justice Gregory Smith, that Guyana was "very stretched" in its capacity to respond to a major maritime disaster and could require additional vessels and outside assistance.

He said he received the distress message at home and began plotting the coordinates electronically, a process he estimated took about 10 minutes to start after the message was circulated among staff. At 11:22pm, he forwarded it to Coast Guard Commander Shamsuddin and asked for the nearest asset to be deployed to determine whether the signal was genuine.
"We are obligated to check it out," Flores said, adding that the procedure applies whether a distress message is genuine or false.
Responders initially did not know the signal was linked to the MV Barima, he said. After contacting the Transport and Harbours Department, he learnt that the vessel had left Georgetown and was believed to be in the area. At 12:09am, MARAD Director of Legal Services Ms McCallister confirmed that it had capsized.
Flores said he assembled staff at the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, informed the Civil Defence Commission and Coast Guard, alerted the lighthouse and sought additional vessels, including the MV Kimbia. MARAD also deployed the pilot boats Haiama and Haiakwa and the tug Arau, while the Transport and Harbours Department was asked to prepare a ferry.
"All of that was done in a couple of minutes," he said.

However, darkness and the lack of precise coordinates complicated the search. "When most of the rescue were occurring, it was done in the dark," Flores said. Fishermen who found survivors could give only approximate locations, and some had no devices capable of providing exact positions. Survivors were found at several sites, generally within a five-mile radius of the first distress coordinates.

The wreck's exact location was not established until surveyors scanned the area with specialised equipment. By 4pm on Monday, July 20, responders had a general idea of its position from debris. It was found about nine miles offshore and 10 metres (33 feet) underwater, four to five miles from the fourth set of coordinates used in the initial search. Images shown to the Commission showed the vessel lying on its starboard side.

The Commission also heard that an emergency beacon recovered by a pilot vessel had a blank vessel-name field, indicating that its registration had not been completed. A registered beacon would carry identifying information linking it to the vessel, Flores said.

Authorities estimate that 162 passengers and 17 crew members were aboard. The official manifest initially listed 116 passengers and 17 crew before unrecorded survivors were accounted for.
The tragedy claimed 73 lives, while 30 people remain unaccounted for and 76 passengers survived. The emergency response operation continued until July 30.