TT Spirit still down

UPDATE:

THE TT Spirit passenger ferry will not return to its route between Trinidad and Tobago as yet, because of numerous problems which arose during sea trials in preparation for its return to service the seabridge.

The Spirit was to have been back in service yesterday after being drydocked since last year.

Chairman of the Port Authority of TT (PATT) Lyle Alexander said several problems were found as maintenance was being done on the vessel.

He was speaking yesterday at a news conference at PATT’s boardroom, Dock Road, Port of Spain.

“There was a catastrophic engine failure on the Spirit in May 2017, when the vessel had to go in for repairs,” Alexander said. “When it went into repairs, we found out then that two engines had to be rebuilt. The other two engines needed servicing.

“Upon further inspection, a new crank shaft had to be acquired. It was ordered in July and received in December 2017.

“Two turbochargers had to be replaced because they could not be repaired. Those were ordered in 2017 and received in January 2018.

“There had to be repairs for seals, bearings and jets in June, which parts did not arrive until October 2017.”

He said a five-year certification was being sought after repairs were completed.

While the repairs were completed in the allotted time, the Spirit failed four sea trials, as the problems kept coming.

In the first sea trial, on March 2, leaks developed in the air coolers and the vessel had to return to shore. These were repaired between March 2 and 17.

The second trial was on March 18 when a leaking head gasket was found and the Spirit again returned to shore. This was caused by a broken cylinder bolt, which had to be replaced

On the third run, on March 20, one of the two engines which had been serviced but not rebuilt blew a gasket. And on the fourth run, while the engines operated well, two other issues arose where they needed to acquire parts from overseas. One part came in on Thursday night and the other was expected last night.

Alexander said on completion of repairs, the Spirit would be taken out for another sea trial. if not today, then tomorrow. If all went well, he said, he was hopeful the Spirit would be back on its route next week.

He said the cost of repairs so far was US$8 million.

Alexander said when the Spirit returns to service, there would be a five-year window in which it would only require routine drydocking and maintenance. He said drydocking was preventive maintenance that should be more robust than it has been.

Asked why the Spirit was not placed on drydock before to prevent these growing problems, Alexander said the decision was made to get an extension on the operations to take care of Easter travel requirements. Asked what contingency plans were in place to deal with the influx of passengers for the jazz festival, he said the water taxis were still an option, the arrangement with Caribbean Airlines to accommodate ferry passengers still stood, and the Galleons Passage should be here by then.

Asked if the Port Authority had considered using party boats to assist, Alexander seemed amused.

ORIGINAL STORY:

It is one problem after another for the TT Spirit which was supposed to return to service today but did not.

Port Authority of TT (PATT) chairman Col Lyle Alexander (ret'd), in a press conference earlier today, said the TT Spirit failed four sea trials and after each of those trials, the port authority had discovered more problems.

The ferry vessel had been placed on dry dock for routine maintenance, but upon further investigation it was discovered the problems were numerous including a broken cylinder bolt, a blown gasket and leaks in the air cooler.

Alexander said parts had been ordered and replaced and PATT was awaiting one more part to arrive today.

He said once that part was installed they would have another sea run maybe as early as tomorrow and expected the Spirit to return to service next week.

He assured that the arrangement with CAL for passengers with ferry tickets still stood and would continue until the Spirit returned to service.

Alexander said the problems cropped up because the vessel had not been put on dry dock when it was scheduled because they wanted to ensure ferry service for passengers for the Easter weekend.

He said the TT Express, which has just been put on dry dock would return to service when it was deemed safe for travel.