Nidco: APT James safe, homeward bound

THE National Infrastructure Development Company (Nidco) has rejected claims by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar that the new fast ferry APT James is defective.

In a statement on Tuesday, Nidco said it noted "ill-informed statements made in the public domain about the vessel.

It said it "remains confident in the safety of the APT James. This vessel is a world-class, state-of-the-art ferry designed and constructed by Austal, a leading shipbuilding company. The issues raised were relatively minor and easily resolved."

The ferry will arrive in Trinidad and Tobago by the end of this week, it said.

The APT James was classified by Norwegian company DNVGL as a high-speed craft on October 24, 2020, the release said. and is confirmed as having been built to International Maritime Organisation (IMO) standards for the safe transport of passengers and crew. The ship has also safely travelled approximately 10,000 nautical miles to date.

At its inspection in Malta in December, Nidco said six deficiencies were identified and it listed the deficiencies identified in a public inspection report which Persad-Bissessar quoted from on Monday and the actions taken to correct them.

"These deficiencies were readily resolved and the vessel was allowed to continue its journey to TT," it said.

Non-provision of a muster list with identified substitutes for key personnel was an oversight by the vessel's delivery team and it was "immediately updated to indicate the substitutes."

On the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS), Nidco said according to maritime law,the primary navigational system encompassess the use of paper charts.

"All the required paper charts for a successful navigation through this delivery journey were on board the vessel."

Nidco explained the ECDIS is a secondary electronic system included in the vessel.

"This was programmed at the beginning of the journey with maps of all ports with scheduled stops along the route."

Malta was added to the journey plan only because of weather conditions that developed in the Mediterranean Sea.

"Since Malta was not a scheduled stop, there was no electronic Maltese map at the time of the inspection. No action was required for the vessel to depart."

The access ladder, Nidco continued, is a gangway that serves as an alternative "portable means of crew access and egress at different ports of call." This will not be used for passenger access on the seabridge, it explained, and safety nets have since been installed.

DVNGL certified the APT James' fire detection system. Nidco said at the inspection in Malta, a heat gun and smoke cannister used for testing could not be located, but: "These consumables have since been replaced."

Two-way portable explosion-proof VHF radios, Nidco said, were always on board the ferry, in accordance with DVNGL requirements.

It added, however, that the Maltese authorities were seeking hands-free extensions to be used with these radios.

As with the ECDIS, no action was required for the vessel to leave Malta.

Nidco added that a stamped copy of the shipboard oil pollution emergency plan (SOPEP) is now on board the vessel. This was not there at the time of the inspection.

Nidco commented that it was unfortunate that "efforts are being made by denigrators to taint the integrity of the APT James as was attempted in 2018 with the Galleons Passage."

The APT James was built by Australian shipbuilder Austal at its Vung Tau shipyard in Vietnam.

Apart from the unplanned stop in Malta, the ferry made stops in Sri Lanka, Djibouti, Egypt, Spain and the Canary Islands.

In a statement on January 1, Nidco said the APT James left the Canary Islands for the final leg of its voyage to TT.