Mohamed doesn’t recall info about his fast boat, captain’s licence

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 August 2026, 7:19 by Denis Chabrol

Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed on Wednesday said he acquired his fast boast about 13 years ago and could not recall whether the boat was registered and certified.

“I don’t know because I have to check my records,” he told Demerara Waves Online News. “I don’t know. I cannot recall if, indeed, we licensed the vessel,” he added.

Mr Mohamed, who was arrested Wednesday because he could not produce the certificates of registration and fitness as well as the captain’s licence, said he imported the boat in 2013 and paid all taxes. He sought to blame the seizure of records by the Guyana Police Force’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) from his offices earlier this year, following the June 2024 United States Treasury sanctions on him, his father and businesses for alleged gold smuggling and related evasion of taxes payable to the Guyana government. “I have to check the records because after our businesses were shut down, then SOCU came, SOCU collected a lot of the files so I have to check the records,” he said.

“This boat is being used for 13 years so all of a sudden, they are bringing up all of this. We are using this boat to bring relief to our Indigenous brothers and sisters,” he said. He said he had licensed captains who would usually drive the boat because they know the routes but was reluctant to provide copies of them for fear that the government would cancel them. He recalled that licensed captains operated the boat during the search and recovery exercise after the MV Barima ferry sank in July.

Asked specifically whether he was a licensed captain, Mr Mohamed said “Yes, I think I had a captain license years ago. I’d have to check for it.” At the same time, he did not believe that licences were required for personal watercraft.

Mr Mohamed denied operating the boat on Tuesday,  though he was seen doing so in a Facebook video while he and five other parliamentarians were aboard in an interior location. He said he assisted while the captain was checking something in the bilge area. “That was just to reverse but when we went into the main river- because the captain was doing something at the said time-so I reversed out from the wharf at Mabaruma and then the captain took over back,” he said.

Concerning his claim that the vessel was damaged while in police custody at Ruimveldt, though in a video hours earlier the boat was seen with a damaged area while in Mabaruma a day earlier, Mr Mohamed said the watercraft was damaged in several locations. He did not rule out inviting the media to view the vessel when it is released. “If you have a vessel sitting on a slipway, you must have damage,” he said.

MARAD on Wednesday said based on its records, neither the fast craft nor Mr. Azruddin Mohamed is licensed or otherwise authorised to operate. Police and Coast Guard engaged Mr Mohamed Tuesday night at his Friendship, East Bank Demerara dock shortly after he and five other parliamentarians returned from meetings with survivors and relatives of the deceased of victims of the ferry mishap at Port Kaituma and Mabaruma.

Mr Mohamed and WIN have been complaining of political victimisation by the Guyana government after efforts had been made to seize his vehicles for tax evasion, and take his firearm licences away from him.