A ‘mother ship’ procured by the Guyana Government for offshore Guyana, is slated to arrive in the country very soon.
The sizable vessel which will patrol Guyana’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is part of the government’s efforts towards enhancing national security, and in this case, curtailing illegal fishing in the area.
The EEZ, according to the United Nations, is an area of sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights to explore and harness the marine resources found there. For Guyana, oil exploration production, and fishing is done in its EEZ.
The arrival of the vessels was announced on Monday evening by President Dr. Irfaan Ali. In 2021, the President vowed that the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) capabilities would be boosted to help monitor both the EEZ and Guyana’s land borders.
Government has been boosting the capacity of the Guyana Defence Force to monitor the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone as well as its land borders
In 2023, a report on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing was submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture detailing that there were about 19,000 vessel-days where non-Guyanese flagged vessels were found in the country’s EEZ.
According to the Head of State, Guyana loses “hundreds of millions of dollars” each year because of illegal fishing in these waters, so the government has to act.
“We have negotiations going on with the French to have a mother ship established in our EEZ. That is a high cost but it is a cost that we have to incur now,” he added.
Further, the President also informed members of the private sector that the government is investing heavily in its security systems so that Guyana is protected from all threats.
As part of that focus, new scanners will be installed at the ports of entry and exit to prevent smuggling of any kind.
“The port security is very important because we have to improve the trust people have in our port systems in Guyana. And those who are managing ports you will have to understand that the ports will come under a national security architecture and infrastructure so that everything that occurs on the ports can be accounted for,” Dr. Ali explained.
He added that Guyana is currently partnering with the United Kingdom and Canada on a port security arrangement.
