Guyana, Suriname Presidents agree to resume ferry service after Canawaima goes to drydock

Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 November 2020, 17:48 by Denis Chabrol

Guyana and Suriname have agreed to start exploring ways of providing a ferry to ply the Corentyne River crossing, Suriname’s President Chandrikapersad Santokhi said Tuesday.

“We agreed, as two leaders, as two Presidents that we’ll have a call to the public sector – Guyana, Suriname- but also to the private sector to look for solutions while that vessel will be on dock so that those sectors can come with a temporary solution by putting in place a ferry which can start with the operation again,” he said.

No date has been set for this.

The MV Canawaima vessel has been plagued with problems and has not been operating for more than 18 months now. Speaking at a joint news conference with Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, who is in Paramaribo for that country’s 45th Independence anniversary, Mr. Santokhi said the two Boards of Directors of the Canawaima Ferry Service have not met for a long time.

The Surinamese leader says the fate of the Canawaima Ferry vessel will be on their agenda, and that a Working Group will in the coming days discuss the issue and consider a technical report on the vessel by the Suriname Maritime Authority that had examined the vessel. “If it will come to the drydock, then we have to get advice from the Board about what to do as two governments, what to do as two nations meanwhile.

The Suriname President says eventually the vessel will be examined and the two countries will decide on getting another ferry to ply the Moleson Creek, Guyana to South Drain, Suriname journey across the Corentyne River

The European Union-funded ferry service between Guyana and Suriname was officially launched on November 6, 1998.