Officials from the Customs and Trade Administration (CTA) and the Guyana Defence Force have again detained the 60-foot Brazilian ship, which was held last week Friday off the Corentyne coast and released on Monday.
Yesterday, a senior officer of the GDF told this newspaper that subject to the ship's release on Monday it was required to journey to Suriname but instead it was found at a mooring facility in the Corentyne on Thursday. The officer said that when the ship was held last Friday the CTA had advised the army to release it because there was insufficient evidence to institute charges against the captain and his crew.
The official said that on the day of its detention, the captain of the ship had told the army that it was en route to Suriname and after it was found on the Corentyne authorities decided to take it into custody again.
The ship was escorted to Port Georgetown on Thursday by the GDF and is currently anchored at the GNSC wharf while police at the Skeldon Police Station have detained its captain, five crew members and chef. The officer said that the engineer of the ship was left on board.
A release from the GDF after the ship was intercepted had stated that mining equipment and documents found on the vessel had revealed that it had been registered in Brazil and that it had left that country on May 10.