Efforts to bring Guyanese home underway amid Canawaima Ferry Service suspension

Guyanese authorities are working to bring home Guyanese nationals who were left stranded in Suriname following the suspension of the Guyana/Suriname Ferry Service on Wednesday.

“We are trying to procure two tugs to aid the vessel to do a repatriation for persons who would have been left on both ends, both the Guyana end and the Suriname end,” Terminal Manager (acting), Vinata Prashad told the News Room.

The Management of the Guyana/Suriname Ferry Service announced that the service has been temporarily suspended from Wednesday, February 4, 2026, until further notice to facilitate emergency works on board the MV Canawaima.

Management said every effort is being made to complete the remedial works in the shortest possible time and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

However, there are conflicting reports over when the service was actually suspended.

A Guyanese man, his wife, and his father-in-law, said they were left stranded at South Drain, Suriname, since Sunday after repeated attempts to return Guyana failed.
According to the man, who did not wish to be named, the ordeal was “horrible,” claiming that Surinamese authorities treated them poorly and provided little to no information.

“We were asking to see supervisors and they were telling us at the port that no one was in charge. They told us we had to go to Paramaribo to find out any information,” the said.

The family left Guyana last Wednesday and arrived in Suriname the same day, with plans to return on Sunday. However, upon arriving at the ferry terminal, they were informed that the ferry was not operating and were told to return on Monday. When they returned, they said no clear information was provided, and they were again instructed to come back on Tuesday.

“They even told us we were booked for priority crossing today [Wednesday]. “But when we went there, the entire staff of the ferry service was leaving in a minibus. They told us it was best we take the back track and go over to Guyana because they don’t see anything happening anytime soon,” he explained.

He further claimed that neither government issued any official notice about the suspension of the ferry service. According to him, approximately 50 Guyanese were left stranded with nowhere to stay. He said he and his family were only able to return home via the backtrack route.

Meanwhile, Prashad disputed claims that passengers were stranded since Sunday. She stated that the service was only affected on Tuesday.

“They cannot be stranded since Sunday, the service was only affected yesterday. They had Sunday and Monday to return. If they made attempts to return yesterday, then we can safely say they are now left stranded,” Prashad said.

Prashad explained the vessel is currently operated by a Surinamese crew, which has not yet provided Guyana with a detailed report on the issue affecting the ship.

“What we are working to do from our end is to have our team go onboard to check what is wrong with the vessel, so we can have a report to work with and have the issue rectified so that we can get the service back up and running,” she said.

Officials say further updates will be provided as assessments continue and repatriation efforts move forward.