A long-awaited regional ferry service is moving closer to a real-world test, with CARICOM leaders signalling that a Trinidad and Tobago–owned vessel could begin limited operations “within months” as part of a broader push to cut cargo costs, ease inflationary pressures and strengthen intra-regional trade.

The heads, who wrapped up their main annual summit in Saint Lucia on Wednesday, have ordered further technical work and opened the way for a Trinidad and Tobago–owned vessel to test whether a regional ferry can be affordable and financially sustainable for ordinary traders and travellers.

Barbados TODAY understands that the heads of government directed the CARICOM Private Sector Organisation (CPSO), which has been shepherding talks between the leaders and ferry industry players, to work with the CARICOM Secretariat to develop a dossier on the ferry’s feasibility.