Lee: Will Galleons Passage be reflagged?

POINTE-A-PIERRE MP David Lee is questioning whether the Galleons Passage vessel will be reflagged under the TT flag.

Speaking at a press conference at the Leader of the Opposition Port of Spain office yesterday, Lee said the vessel had sailed into TT waters under the flag of an island in the South Pacific Ocean.

“The boat came under a flag of convenience Vanuatu, which is a small island in the Pacific. Now in Trinidad, the question the Opposition would like to ask is will the Galleons Passage be reflagged under the TT flag? Because the Galleons is owned by the taxpayers of Trinidad and Tobago.

He also wondered when the vessel would make it first sailing to Tobago as the hectic July/August holiday period was almost half way over. Lee said the proposed canopy on the vessel’s upper deck may affect the ship stability and violate health and safety procedures.

“They talked about a canopy on the upper deck that was the original repairs that supposed to have been done in Cuba, the vessel came in without those repairs being done. The vessel when it was built did not cater for any structure on the upper deck and when you want to put a structure on the upper deck you talking about the whole stability of the vessel. The test of the stability has to be redone so this is another safety concern.”