Sinanan: Smooth sailing with new cargo ship

“All the cargo for Tobago was delivered and there have been no hiccups and we don’t anticipate any. This was an unfortunate situation, and I know there was a lot of misinformation in the public domain so, I’m happy we were able to weather it through,” he told Newsday yesterday.The Atlantic Provider and The Transporter barge have been selected as short-term replacements for the cargo vessel MV Super Fast Galicia on the inter-island ferry service.

The barge will cost Government between US$8,000 and $10,000 a day while the other vessel will cost US$14,500 a day.

“In the maritime industry, the longer you rent a vessel for, the cheaper the rate is. This is a very short-term thing so the rate will be a lot higher,” Sinanan said. The Port Authority took immediate action to find a provider for the inter-island service after it received a 14-day notice that the Galicia vessel would be withdrawn.

The minister said because it was an emergency situation, the authority went out to find a provider that would have been in the Caribbean region. He said it received seven unsolicited offers and three solicited ones. These were submitted to the board, he said, and two out of the three providers were chosen. Sinanan said the Government’s medium-term plan was to lease a vessel for three years.

He said the tender for that was expected to close at 4 pm yesterday.

For the long-term plan, Government will seek to purchase a new vessel