Yesterday’s sailing of the controversial Cabo Star cargo vessel from Port-of-Spain to Scarborough was delayed by almost two hours due to a mechanical problem.
It was the second day running that passengers on the sea bridge had experience problems with the service. On Tuesday, the T&T Express experienced mechanical problems and left the Scarborough Port for Port-of-Spain several hours late.
In a telephone interview yesterday afternoon, public relations officer of the T&T Inter-island Transportation Company, Vilma Lewis-Cockburn, explained that the issue with the Cabo Star was rectified and the ferry eventually left Trinidad around 2.10 pm instead of its scheduled time of 12.30 pm.
The delay caused a massive back-up of commercial vehicles along Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, for most of yesterday morning, as truck drivers transporting items ranging from construction material to frozen food had arrived in Port-of-Spain well before the scheduled boarding time of 9.30 am.
“This is madness. They ain’t care about us,” one driver who spent over five hours waiting to board said before eventually being allowed into the ferry terminal at Dock Road.
The drivers said they were severely hampered by the delay, as many of them would have to quickly offload their trucks upon reaching Tobago in order to make the return journey.
Many of the drivers said they did not like the leased vessel and preferred its predecessor, the Super Fast Galicia.
“It was bigger and more comfortable. It was a much better ship,” one of the drivers said.
“Since this ship come it has been late almost everyday,” another claimed.
The Super Fast Galicia ended its service of the inter-island sea bridge earlier this year after the Government refused to grant its owners, Inter-continental Shipping Company Limited, a long term lease. The vessel had been operating on a month to month basis since its original lease with the Government expired in April last year.
The absence of an alternative vessel forced the Government to find replacement vessels with two—the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower II—being sourced from Canadian firm Bridgemans Service Group. The Ocean Flower II’s contract was eventually cancelled after the vessel failed to arrive by its extended deadline of August 1.
The procurement of the vessels have been shrouded in controversy, with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley this week admitting something was not right about the Ocean Flower deal in particular.
Last Tuesday, Rowley appointed business magnate Christian Mouttet to investigate the debacle and provide a report within a month’s time.