Truckers curse Cabo Star

KINNESHA GEORGE-HARRY

Wednesday’s sailing aboard the MV Cabo Star cargo vessel from Scarborough to Port-of-Spain was delayed by seven hours due to a mechanical problem.

The vessel was scheduled to depart the Port of Scarborough at 11 pm, however, it eventually departed at 6.02 am yesterday.

One trucker recounted his experience indicating that the first announcement of the delays came just after 2 am.

“I was outside on the deck taking some breeze because inside was a little warm plus I’m a late sleeper. Around 12.30 am I started to query why we weren’t sailing and was told that the engines weren’t starting and that’s causing a delay. By this time, many passengers were asleep and had no idea what was taking place. Around 2-ish an official announcement was made over the vessel’s PA system that the sailing would be delayed due to a mechanical problem. They apologised and said it should be resolved in one hour,” he said He said that by 4 am, he along with a few of the passengers were so upset that they began cursing. “Some of us freely disembarked and later on the others were asked to disembark the vessel. Those who wanted to travel on the fast ferry had the option to.”

The upset trucker said during this time, he overheard both the Bridgeman’s crew and port officials saying that no vehicles would be offloaded from the Cabo Star and a Cruise ship would be coming to port soon and the Cabo Star could not stay where it was. That, he said, caused more heat as many wanted to cancel their Trinidad trip, take their vehicle and return home.

“So it boiled down to a case where your vehicle going Trinidad still, whether you like it or not, although your plans already messed up.”

Passengers accommodated on the TT Express arrived in Trinidad at 11 am, while the Cabo Star limped behind with vehicles and livestock on board reaching Port of Spain at 2.30 pm.

Contacted for comment, public relations officer of the T&T Inter-island Transportation Company Vilma Lewis-Cockburn said the vessel experienced mechanical issues without giving further explanation. She, however, confirmed that the situation on the Cabo Star was rectified and the ferry eventually left Tobago around 6.02 am instead of its scheduled time of 11 pm.