-more than two years after assurance by President Ali
More than two years after President Irfaan Ali assured that a regional ferry service would take off it remains in limbo, underlining how the undertaking was more complex than had been originally thought.
It is unclear whether the long-delayed regional ferry service linking Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados will feature on the agenda of the Fifty-first Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Gros Islet, St Lucia from today until July 8th.
However, neither CARICOM’s published agenda nor recent public statements by regional leaders have indicated whether discussions on the proposed common transportation ferry system will take place.
The uncertainty comes more than two years after President Ali confidently predicted that the service would commence operations within months and after repeated declarations by participating governments that the initiative remained a priority for regional integration and food security.
On January 5, 2024 President Ali had announced that the Governments of Guyana, Barbados and the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago had formed a new company that would introduce a passenger and cargo ferry system.
Most recently, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha acknowledged that the project remains stalled after authorities scrapped an earlier vessel identified for the route because it was deemed unsuitable following technical assessments.
Speaking to reporters in April, Mustapha said the government was continuing its search for a more suitable ferry to operate the proposed route. Evaluations, according to him, determined that the vessel initially earmarked for the service was incapable of efficiently servicing the Guyana-Caribbean corridor.
“While plans had been progressing, the assessments ultimately determined that the ferry was not suitable for the operational demands of the journey,” Mustapha said, while maintaining that the initiative remains a priority for the administration. He explained that authorities were exploring alternatives that satisfy safety and performance requirements while ensuring reliable passenger and cargo transport.
The proposed ferry service has been touted as a key mechanism for strengthening regional integration, reducing transportation costs, facilitating agricultural trade and improving food security by providing a cheaper alternative to air travel and more efficient movement of cargo within the Caribbean.
Mustapha also reiterated that President Ali had identified Parika as Guyana’s designated landing site and that plans remained in place to develop supporting infrastructure, including customs, immigration and plant quarantine facilities.
Speaking at the opening of the 12th annual Inter-American Development Bank consultation with Caribbean governors in February 2024, President Ali expressed confidence that the ferry service would begin operations within approximately three months.
He described the initiative as part of a regional “coalition of the willing,” arguing that participating countries were prepared to move ahead with practical solutions to regional transportation and food security challenges.
The proposed ferry service developed from a high-level meeting held in Trinidad and Tobago on February 15, 2024, involving senior officials from Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the CARICOM Secretariat.
At the meeting, ministers agreed on a two-month timeframe to complete pre-clearance arrangements for immigration, customs and plant quarantine services to facilitate the launch of the ferry system.
A release issued by the Ministry of Public Works at the time said officials had agreed that most of the necessary customs, immigration and plant quarantine systems were already in place and could be adapted to accommodate the service.
The high cost of a suitable vessel had set back plans for the regional ferry service despite initial optimism that Trinidad’s Galleons Passage would have enabled a quick start-up.
Then Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Grenada, Dickon Mitchell provided an update to the Sunday Stabroek in November of 2024.
“The challenge, obviously, is getting the right vessel, because we want a vessel that can do two things – carry cargo and at the same time carry passengers. We need a roll on/roll off vessel and getting the right vessel and getting the right price, particularly one that is fuel efficient is a challenge. It is really difficult to get the right vessel,” Mitchell said on the sidelines of a CARICOM security meeting held in Guyana at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Liliendaal.
“In fact, we were just saying… Prime Minister [Barbados PM Mia Mottley] was just giving us an example of boats in Europe for consideration, but it is the price tag. That is always the challenge. So the price tag is the challenge, obviously, that we have. We are satisfied that this is an essential part of the infrastructure that we have to get going in the region, but it is still finding the right solution, finding the right vessel at the right price,” he iterated.
In August 2025, it was reported that passenger fares on the service could eventually be set below US$100, and that Trinidad and Tobago’s Galleons Passage ferry was expected to initially service the Trinidad-Guyana route before expanding to Barbados.
The report also revealed that CARI Cargo Inc., the company established to oversee the regional ferry operation, had already been incorporated in Georgetown.
Despite these developments, no timeline has since been announced for the commencement of the service, raising fresh questions over when, or if, one of the region’s most ambitious transportation integration projects will finally become a reality.
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