Port: No new vessel contracted

“I am not aware of any boat that is to come here. The Port Authority has not contracted a boat and as far as I understand government has not contracted any other boat to date. I totally reject that statement,” she said. “We have the TT Express on the route because the TT Spirit, as we indicated, is under repairs due to mechanical difficulties and we are seeking to repair it. At this time we just have the TT Express on route.

From time to time we use the water taxi to transport passengers and luggage.” Lewis was responding to claims made by Tobago House of Assembly Minority Leader Watson Duke, at a press conference yesterday outside the Ferry Terminal, Port of Spain. Duke claimed the MV La Caracola (the snail) had been seized by the Guardia Nacional (Venezuelan National Guard).

He said when the Guardia Nacional inspected it, the local agent had no documentation for the boat and this was a major cause for concern.

“I broke the news almost two weeks ago that the boat with a fancy name, La Caracola, ‘The Snail’, is being secured by the Port Authority to now work between Trinidad and Tobago. As if to say two barges were not enough, they have added a third one at a whopping cost of US$13,000 per day,” he said.

Duke called on government and the chairman of the Port Authority to produce documents for the vessel.