What should have been a two and a half hour journey to Tobago turned into a five-hour ordeal for passengers who travelled on the T&T Express yesterday.
The vessel returned from dry dock and attempted its first trip yesterday at the Port Authority of T&T tries to ease some of the travel woes ahead of the busy Easter holiday weekend and the departure of the Super Fast Galicia after April 21.
But the return to service of the T&T Express did not go according to plan, as the fast ferry left Port-of-Spain around 8.45 am and only docked at the Scarborough Port at 1.10pm. It was scheduled to make its return trip at 12 noon.
The T&T Guardian understands that only three out of the four engines of the vessel were functioning when the ferry left Trinidad and while it attempted to birth at the Scarborough Port one of the three failed. The ferry was then taken back to sea, where technicians on board undertook repairs, allowing the vessel to dock.
The T&T Guardian was reliably informed that the vessel left Port-of-Spain on three engines as an overhaul of its engines, which commenced while it was dry docked, was not completed.
One irate passenger, who did not want to be identified, confirmed they spent hours out in the ocean with Tobago in sight. She described the situation as untenable and called for the authorities to address the matter urgently
“We were at the port since 11 pm on Monday night because we wanted to make sure we got on the boat and after not being able to board at 6.30 because of some issue, it was very frustrating. We were on the sea for hours without any explanation, it’s not until we couldn’t berth, that’s when the captain came on and said something. We had so many children and they were sick,” she said.
“They need to do something desperately, because it’s horrible. It is not a nice experience to be going through this. Every year it’s the same thing, same kinds of problem with the boats.”
Contacted for comment on the issue, PATT communications manager Velma Louis-Cockburn confirmed the vessel had a late departure from Trinidad because the fuel for the trip arrived late. She also said a technical issue caused challenges at the Scarborough port, but declined to comment on whether the issue was caused by malfunctioning engines, saying she had not yet received a full report on the matter.
Meanwhile, the T&T Spirit continues to function on all four engines. However, sources say those engines are not operating at full capacity, which renders it unable to make the normal two and half hour crossing time between both islands.
The T&T Spirit is also due for dry docking in May.
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