Govt reaffirms commitment to protecting integrity of Guyana Flag at Global Maritime Security Symposium

The Government of Guyana remains committed to protecting the integrity of the Guyana flag and strengthening the country’s ship registry against fraudulent activity, Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation, Deodat Indar, declared while addressing the Second Annual Global Maritime Security and Sanctions Enforcement Symposium in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda earlier this week.

Held from July 13 to 15, 2026, the high-level engagement was convened to strengthen international sanctions enforcement, enhance maritime security, and improve cooperation in preventing sanctions evasion and other illicit maritime activities.

Presenting a case study titled “Fraudulent Registries – Guyana’s Perspective,” Minister Indar emphasised that the Government is committed to expanding the national fleet by encouraging Guyanese citizens and companies to register vessels under the Guyana flag, thereby enabling their participation in the country’s rapidly growing maritime growing maritime trade and economy. He noted, however, that these efforts continue to face challenges from criminal entities operating within the global maritime industry that seek to undermine the integrity of legitimate ship registration.

Highlighting efforts to combat fraudulent vessel registration, Minister Indar stressed the importance of international cooperation and coordination. These collaborative efforts have resulted in several successful enforcement actions against vessels fraudulently operating under the Guyana flag, including the MT Skipper, which was intercepted off the coast of Venezuela in December 2025, and the MT Majestic X, which was detained in April 2026.

The symposium which was organized by the United States Department of State in collaboration with the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Marine Services (ADOMS) brought together key government, and security enforcement officials and industry specialists from the U.S Department of State, Economic and Energy Bureau, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the U.S Department of Treasury, OFAC, the Global Centre for Maritime Sanctions Monitoring (GCMSM), Maritime UN Sanctions Enforcement (MUSE) Initiative, the U.S Department of Transportation, UNSCR Enforcement Coordination Cell, the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), CARICOM Secretariat, Tokyo MOU, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington, and representatives of several Flag Registries including, Antigua and Barbuda, Liberia, Cyprus, Cameroon, Comoros, Sierra Leone, Honduras, St Kitts & Nevis, and Guyana.