TT Spirit back on Saturday

THA Secretary of Tourism, Culture and Transportation, councillor Nadine Stewart-Phillips, has asked for patience after the TT Spirit was pulled from service on Monday afternoon because of mechanical issues.

Responding to questions during yesterday’s post-Executive Council media briefing at the division’s conference room in Scarborough, Stewart-Phillips stressed the TT Spirit is is not new and would encounter issues periodically.

“However, as the Prime Minister mentioned, (and) the Minister of Transport (Rohan Sinanan) reiterated... they are currently in the process of getting new vessels to operate between Scarborough and the port in Trinidad, so we thank persons again for their patience.

“These vessels are man-made vessels and so there would always be technical problems and so we are just hopeful for the best. We have the Galleons Passage that is here, it is operating.”

Contacted for an update, chairman of the Port Authority Lyle Alexander said he is hoping the vessel will return to the seabridge on Saturday. Alexander admitted the issues plaguing the TT Spirit stem from the failure in the past to do frequent maintenance checks.

“The repairs on a Wednesday don’t necessarily address those issues... those are the things that should happen (frequently), and we are now paying for having not done those kinds of checks before.

He said the parts needed have been identified and are in Germany.

“We are awaiting their arrival. We expect them on Thursday, we repair on Friday and we should be back online by Saturday,” he said.