By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE cargo vessel MV Cabo Star should be sailing soon.
Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan said by September 17, all repairs should be conducted on the vessel.
He was answering a question about the vessel asked by Member of Parliament for Couva South Rudranath Indarsingh which was asked in Parliament on Friday.
Sinanan said, “At this time, repairs to the electrical cables of the vessel are currently ongoing. The cables are not readily available locally but have arrived. It is expected that the vessel will return to commercial operation on the 17th of September.”
He further said, “This is subjected to the final certification by class which is out of control of the Port Authority and the Ministry of Works and Transport.”
Sinanan also said since the incident, coverage on the inter-island sea bridge continued to be provided by the Buccoo Reef, APT James, MV Galleon’s Passage and dismissed claims of food and building materials shortage in Tobago due to lack of transportation services.
The minister apologised for the inconvenience.
Indarsingh also asked about cost to repair the vessel by taxpayers to which Sinanan replied there was none and there was no additional cost to have a Venezuelan vessel MV Emprendedora used as a mitigation measure.
Sinanan said, “The government of Trinidad and Tobago have not procured any additional vessel. A vessel was provided by the contracted agent of the Cabo Star and there are no extra cost incurred by the government of Trinidad and Tobago but we apologise for the inconvenience that the accident caused to the people of both Tobago and Trinidad.”
He also said, “The Cabo Star is a rented vessel in Trinidad and Tobago and any cost to the repair is borne by the owners of the vessel or the agent who the vessel was chartered from.”
The vessel has already been out of service for 13 commercial sailing days following a fire in its engine room on August 23.
Chairman of the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago Lyle Alexander announced on Thursday that the MV Emprendedora, was expected to arrive in Trinidad over the weekend to aid with inter-island transportation.
The vessel that will be used for cargo only should take about ten hours to get to and from Tobago, he disclosed.
Bridgemans Services Group (BSG), owners of the MV Cabo Star is responsible for the chartering of the Venezuelan vessel Alexander said.
The MV Cabo Star has been operational in Trinidad and Tobago since 2017.
