Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell says discussions on establishing a regional passenger and cargo ferry service are ongoing, but the project will require significant capital investment from both the public and private sectors to become a reality.

Mitchell made the comment while speaking on his weekly podcast, DMs with the PM, on March 31.

“It’s an ongoing conversation. The ferries are very, very expensive and they are also expensive to maintain. So although CARICOM governments have been speaking about it, we certainly need the private sector to partner with us if we are going to make this a reality,” he said.

In addition to the cost of acquiring ferries, Mitchell pointed to the expense of developing infrastructure capable of handling roll-on, roll-off trade.

He also highlighted the lack of containerised shipping capacity along regional sea routes as another challenge, noting that many goods transported between countries would require cold storage.

Mitchell said one proposal under discussion involves establishing clusters, allowing vessels to operate between nearby islands.

He acknowledged that the issue is not easy to resolve but said discussions are continuing in search of a solution.

The first steps to establishing a regional ferry cane in February 2024 when Guyanese President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced that a ferry service would be launched between Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.

Subsequent announcements from regional leaders indicated that the service would be expanded to include stops in St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The vessel Galleons Passage, which sails between Trinidad and Tobago, had also been identified as a possible option for routes between Trinidad and Guyana and Trinidad and Barbados.