On a pre-dawn raid in late August 2026, Guyanese opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed faced the detention of his private vessel, the *Prince AZ II*, after a joint police-coast guard maritime patrol stopped him for failing to produce valid operating documentation. What followed has since clarified the situation while raising new regulatory questions over the incident.
Shortly after the Maritime Administration (MARAD) released an official statement claiming neither Mohamed nor his vessel held valid operating licenses, the opposition leader announced Thursday that he had located the missing paperwork. However, the discovered documents reveal a critical issue: both the operating license and the required certificate of inspection expired seven years prior, in September 2018. Both documents were originally issued in December 2017.
Public records from the license lay out the vessel’s approved operating parameters: the fiberglass passenger-cargo vessel is cleared to carry up to six passengers and two crew members, operate with two 600-horsepower outboard engines, and is restricted to routes along the Demerara and Essequibo rivers and their tributaries. The inspection certificate adds further restrictions: the vessel is prohibited from traveling during nighttime hours between sunset and sunrise, and must be crewed by one Grade 3 boatmaster and one Category 4 deck rating.
The sequence of events that led to the detention began on Tuesday, August 25, when Mohamed and five fellow parliamentarians from his We Invest in Nationhood party traveled via the *Prince AZ II* to Port Kaituma and Mabaruma. The trip was organized to meet with survivors and family members of victims of the July 2026 sinking of the state-owned ferry MV Barima, a major public incident that has already sparked political debate in the country.
According to official police accounts, joint patrol officers spotted the vessel traveling along the Demerara River toward Friendship at approximately 9:50 PM that night, well after the sunset curfew listed on the expired inspection certificate. Officers activated their sirens to order the vessel to stop, but it reportedly failed to comply and accelerated away, prompting a short pursuit before it was finally intercepted and detained at the Friendship wharf. The vessel and all occupants were then escorted to the Ruimveldt marine police base in Georgetown ahead of further review.
Mohamed has defended his position, noting that he previously held a valid personal captain’s license, but cannot currently produce it because the Police Force’s Special Organised Crime Unit seized a collection of his personal documents earlier in 2026.
Legal analysts who have reviewed the case say that there is a key legal distinction between operating a vessel with no license ever obtained versus operating with documentation that has lapsed. Even so, they note that a seven-year expiration window is likely to be viewed as a serious violation by Guyana’s maritime regulatory authorities, which will have final say over any potential penalties.