– crew, vessel apprehended in Venezuela expected to be released ‘within the coming hours’
GUYANA and Venezuela have agreed to explore mechanisms within the context of international law to address the issue of maritime delimitation. To this end, they agreed yesterday that a technical team would meet within four months to exchange views on how such delimitation could proceed.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guyana, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and the People’s Minister for Foreign Relations of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Elias Jaua Milano, and their respective delegations, met in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago yesterday.

The meeting took place on the instructions of their Presidents (Donald Ramotar of Guyana and Nicolas Maduro Moros of Venezuela) with the aim of advancing the bilateral political dialogue in light of the recent tension-filled events arising from the seizure of a U.S. research vessel MV Teknik Perdana in Guyana’s waters by the Venezuelan navy on October 10.
According to a joint statement following yesterday’s meeting, issued late last night, the ministers expressed their satisfaction over the excellent relations which have developed between the two nations under the Presidency of Donald Ramotar and Nicolas Maduro Moros. In this regard, they reiterated that “dialogue and cooperation are the means for a peaceful solution of differences between States”.
The Ministers ratified all the points of the Joint Declaration of September 30, 2011 in Port of Spain, signed by Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett and the then Minister of the People’s Power for External Relations of the Bolivarian Republic, Nicolas Maduro Moros, where they recognised that the delimitation of the maritime boundaries between their two States remains an outstanding issue and agreed that such delimitation will require negotiations.
In this regard, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett and Minister Jaua yesterday agreed to explore mechanisms within the context of international law to address the issue of maritime delimitation.  “To this end, they agreed that a technical team would meet within four months to exchange views on how such delimitation could proceed,” the joint statement said.
Finally, both Ministers expressed their appreciation for the hospitality of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in facilitating yesterday’s meeting which they said “took place in a cordial atmosphere”.
With specific regard to the release of the crew and the vessel, Minister Rodrigues-Birkett said “based on information provided by the judicial authorities, the crew and vessel is expected to be released within the coming hours.”
On October 10, research vessel RV Teknik Perdana which was conducting a survey in the Roraima Block offshore Guyana was intercepted by a Venezuelan Navy ship and ordered to cease their activities. According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the 36-man crew of the RV Teknik Perdana explained to the crew of the Venezuelan vessel that they were conducting a multi-beam survey of the seafloor in Guyana’s exclusive economic zone. However, the Venezuelan Navy ordered the vessel to sail to its Margarita Island, where it was seized for six days then later released.
Its captain Ukranian, Igor Bekirov was charged and released on bail for allegedly violating Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone.