The Port Authority has requested a report from the T&T Inter Island Transportation Company Ltd (TTIT) on why the British naval vessel, the RFA Wave Knight, was allowed to drop anchor in the channel blocking the entry which would have been used by the cargo vessel, the Superfast Galicia, to the Scarborough Port on Tuesday.
Acting general manager of the Port Authority, Charmaine Lewis, told the T&T Guardian that from her initial understanding it was the “sea pilot, the Trinidad and Tobago Pilots and Berthing Association, which gave the RFA Wave Knight the all clear to drop anchor in the channel.”
Lewis said what happened on Tuesday night “should not have happened. It is a concern.”
Among other things the port wants to find out is “who determined where the ship was docked, what planning was done if any, did they observe the process, where did they fail? We want to ascertain the causes and take the necessary steps to ensure we get the answers so that it does not happen again. We also want to ascertain where the responsibility lies,” she said
She could not say whether someone would be disciplined as a result of the fiasco, saying only “it may or may not happen. It depends on whether the person is under the jurisdiction of the port because this also involves persons and organisations that are external to the port.
“The pilots, the shipping agents the ship personnel, we do not want to assign blame anywhere until we know the facts,” she added.
She expects to get a report on what happened by next Monday.
Lewis said she was contacted on Tuesday night when the Galicia stood stranded in the middle of the ocean. She said: “They contacted me so I was aware that the Galicia was out in the water and could not go in to the port. The vessel was in the channel with passengers (the truckers and crew). Their safety was uppermost and we instructed the vessel to return to Trinidad.”
The vessel had cargo destined for Tobago but she said the priority was ensuring the safety of the people on board.
President of the Tobago Chamber, Demi John Cruikshank, told the T&T Guardian that as a result of the vessel not being able to dock Tobago was short on bread on Wednesday. Other supplies were also affected.
He added: “Because the naval vessel was parked in the wrong position there was no way the Galicia could have berthed.”
On the night in question there was a cocktail reception aboard the naval vessel and the crew, according to reports, were on shore leave and were unavailable to move the vessel.
UK High Commissioner regrets incident
British High Commissioner Tim Stew in a letter to the T&T Guardian said he “regrets the inconvenience caused.”
High Commissioner Stew said he sympathised with the people of Trinidad and Tobago “whose lives were affected by the non-docking of the ferry Galicia in the Scarborough Port.”
He said the High Commission was “acutely aware of the importance of the ferries passenger and cargo to both islands and took this into account in planning our visit.”
“The RFA Wave Knight and its crew,” he said, “are here to do good and to support the islands. They are part of a year-round British naval presence in the Caribbean.”
British Army Royal Engineer Commandos from the vessel. he said, have “carried out work supporting the Child Welfare League, Signal Hill Secondary School, the Sea Scouts and the Roxborough Secondary School.”
Meanwhile, the RFA Wave Knight is due to arrive at the Port of Port-of-Spain. The visit is part of its deployment to the region to provide support and assistance to the UK’s Caribbean Overseas Territories and Bermuda during the hurricane season.