18-hour nightmare for passengers on ferry
OfflineTrinidad Express
A broken bow thruster yesterday caused a nightmare for Tobago-bound passengers, who were forced to spend 18 hours aboard the Warrior Spirit.
A boatful of crying children, tired women and irate men returned to Trinidad yesterday from Tobago, where the boat had not been allowed to dock the afternoon before. After watching the vessel being turned away from Scarborough, passengers waited for an explanation that came the next day.
Communications Officer for the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT), Betty-Ann Gibbons, disclosed yesterday that "technical problems" had arisen.
Gibbons said a broken bow thruster had forced the Warrior Spirit to turn back without docking.
The ferry arrived in Scarborough at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
It turned back and headed for Trinidad at a snail's pace, taking 10 hours to reach Port of Spain. The newly-acquired ferry usually takes under three hours to make the journey to and from the sister isle.
One of the biggest problems arising out of the situation was the fact that a number of vendors were stuck on the vessel with perishable goods.
You would be surprise that this happen very often, like this for years.
You better off walking to Trinidad if you could, would take 3-4 hours to cover 24 miles.
looks like the port authority have no maintance schedule.should be checking the ferries every 4 voyages or some relaible schedule to see if things are in proper working order..