C’bean must unite to stamp out ‘dark fleet’ operations – Min Indar

Minister of Public Utilities and Aviation Deodat Indar has called on Caribbean states to work together to end “dark fleet” operations, warning that vessels fraudulently flying national flags are being used to move guns, sanctioned oil, and smuggled people.

Minister Indar raised the issue on Monday, when he joined President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali at the opening of the 56th Annual General Meeting, Conference and Exhibition of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.

The minister told an audience of over 450 maritime stakeholders, policymakers, senior executives, and industry experts that he had seen the problem firsthand along with the Director General of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), Stephen Thomas.

Guyana has been one of its victims, he disclosed.

“It is a curse on the shipping industry. It is a black stain on maritime authorities,” the minister said.

He explained that criminal operators issue fake registrations so vessels can sail under the flags of countries where they aren’t registered. The minister said the damage extends beyond the countries whose flags are misused to shipping lines, insurance firms, and flag-state operations.

“When your ship flag is used for nefarious activities, moving things, guns, sanctioned oil, sanctioned products, people smuggling, those are not things that any nation would like to have [associated with] their name or their flag,” he said.

To show how far the fraud has gone, Minister Indar described an operator who registered vessels to a fake flag state based on a tiny, uninhabited island in the South Pacific.

He told regional shipowners, port operators and maritime officials that no single country can solve the problem on its own.

“If we don’t work together, [we] simply can’t stamp it out,” the minister emphasised.

Guyana operates a closed ship registry, which limits registration under its flag to vessels owned by Guyanese nationals, residents, CARICOM citizens, and companies established under the laws of Guyana.

Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) has said cases of vessels falsely claiming Guyanese registration have been identified since 2021, and that Guyana shares information on fraudulent registrations with UN maritime states and international bodies.

In April 2026, US forces seized the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean for carrying Iranian oil while it was fraudulently flying Guyana’s flag; it had been sanctioned in 2024 under the name PHONIX.

The four-day conference is being held under the theme “Building a More Connected, Resilient and Competitive Caribbean.” [DPI]