Lynx delayed by angry passengers

THERE was high drama at the Scarborough Port yesterday afternoon when close to 40 aggrieved passengers stormed onto a ramp of the fast ferry Lynx after being left behind in the sister Isle. Their action delayed the ferry’s 1 pm sail time to Port-of-Spain by over two hours in what was the Lynx’s last sailing from Tobago yesterday. The Lynx never left Tobago about 3.30 pm, after the affected passengers were gradually coaxed into removing themselves off the ramp. According to reports, the drama began when the Lynx’s captain claimed the ferry was overloaded and could not take any more passengers.  Around 40 passengers, whose tickets had already been processed for boarding, were left stranded in the Port’s terminal building.

The situation was further exacerbated when contrary to the captain’s claims, Port personnel said the manifest (list of passengers for sailing) indicated a total of 770 passengers. The Lynx carries a capacity of 850 passengers. Newsday was told that the captain insisted the ferry was overloaded and reportedly resisted all efforts to have the affected passengers accommodated on this trip. The Lynx, at this point, was ready to set sail. However, a ramp was let down to allow a wheelchair-bound passenger to disembark and that was when the trouble began. A group of irate passengers who were left behind suddenly stormed out of the terminal building and onto the ramp. 

They remained on the ramp for two hours while passengers who had already boarded the vessel jeered them. Eventually, one by one, the stormers were subsequently coaxed off the ramp by Port security personnel. The affected passengers were later told they would be accommodated on today’s 1 am sailing of the MV Sonia out of Scarborough. Simone Edwards, 19, of Arima, who was among the passengers on the ramp, reported that the captain claimed the ferry was overloaded by 20 passengers.

“He (captain) said he not listening to anyone,” an angry Edwards explained.  She said the captain referred to the insurance coverage for the ferry, pointing out that it did not apply to excess passengers. Another affected passenger, a mother of several children, who would only identify herself as being from west Trinidad, declared: “I find it is very unfair that they take people on the Lynx who were booked to travel on the MV Sonia. They saying it overcrowded but people on the boat were still getting their friends on.” Efforts by Newsday to get a comment from senior Port personnel were unsuccessful.