Family endures agonising wait as 22-year-old crew member remains missing after MV Barima tragedy
More than two weeks after the sinking of the MV Barima, the family of 22-year-old crew member Antoine Harcourt of Lichfield Village, West Coast Berbice, continues to wait for answers as he remains among those missing.
Harcourt was working aboard the vessel when it departed for Port Kaituma on Saturday, July 18, 2026. The vessel sank shortly before midnight, leaving several passengers and crew members dead, missing or injured.
Relatives said the last time they saw Harcourt was on the Thursday before the voyage, when he visited his family before returning to the East Coast.
As search and recovery efforts continue, his family is hoping his body will be recovered to allow them to bring him home and find some closure.
His 81-year-old grandmother, Brenda Harcourt, said the uncertainty surrounding his fate has been painful for the family.
“There is no news that he’s been found,” she told Ignite News. “Whether dead or alive, I would like to see him. If they would bring the body home for burial, you know.”
She said she wanted confirmation of his whereabouts, regardless of the outcome.
“I don’t think so. As far as I understand, I don’t think he’s alive. I would prefer that, whether he’s alive or whether he is dead, I would know that he’s been found,” she said.
Brenda described her grandson as loving and said they shared a close relationship.
“We had a very good relationship. Sometimes you would hear him pass through the yard, and he would shout, ‘Granny, what you doing?’ We had a good relationship,” she recalled.
President Dr Irfaan Ali has met with relatives of those still missing and assured them that the MV Barima would be salvaged. He outlined plans for the recovery operation, which is expected to assist families awaiting answers about their loved ones.
For the Harcourt family, the continued uncertainty has deepened their grief as they wait for news about Antoine and hope for an opportunity to bring him home.This version uses a Reuters-style structure: news lead first, fewer repeated descriptions, concise background, limited emotion while preserving the family’s human perspective, and the President’s role placed later in the story.
