Ferry still due next month

Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan.
Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan.

THE fast ferry is still due to arrive in TT towards the end of May. Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan provided this information today, telling Newsday this was the last information he had received from the National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco).

Sinanan previously rejected claims from the Opposition that the procurement process for the ferry, theJean de la Valette, was corrupt.

He said plans to lease a fast ferry for the seabridge were public knowledge since last year.

Port Authority chairman Lyle Alexander said Nidco is liaising with Virtu Ferries, the owners of the Jean De La Valette, and would have a good idea when the ferry would arrive in TT.

Efforts to contact Nidco officials for comment were unsuccessful.

Alexander also said plans to dredge the Port of Spain port to facilitate the berthing of the Jean de la Valette are in the planning stages and no physical work has started as yet. Alexander previously said the authority is looking at the best places to dredge and berthing places for the Jean de la Valette and the Galleons Passage.

The Jean de la Valette is being leased by Nidco to operate on the seabridge for a year.

On April 8 in the House of Representatices, the Prime Minister said it will cost $271,000 a day to lease the vessel, which will operate alongside the TT Express and the Galleons Passage until two new fast ferries arrive in TT. One ferry is being built by Australian shipbuilder Austal, and another Australian shipbuilder, Incat, is building the second ferry. Speaking in the Senate on April 11, Sinanan said Austal was awarded a US$73,550,000 contract to build its ferry. The new ferries are expected to arrive in TT in mid-2020.

At a post-Cabinet news conference earlier this month, National Security Minister Stuart Young announced that Government had approved financing arrangements for the two new fast ferries. The arrangements will be handled by the Australian exim bank EFIC.

Built in 2010 by Austal, the Jean de la Valette was considered one of the largest vessels of its kind and can accommodate 24 crew members and 800 passengers. The Jean de la Valette also has a capacity of 230 cars.

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"Ferry still due next month"

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