Shastri Boodan, Charles Kong Soo
Scores of commuters hoping to get to Tobago yesterday were greeted with bad news when they went to the Port of Port-of-Spain seeking standby tickets.
Around 9:40 am, a manager greeted the hopeful commuters and announced that the Buccoo Reef ferry was damaged earlier in the week because of the rough waters.
He said the vessel experienced damage to part of its ramp and according to the official, the Port Authority was not informed on time.
The manager said that this made the vessel unable to carry seven vehicles on Friday and as a result over 100 passengers were also left behind.
A caution tape was seen at Pigeon Point Jetty due to rough water on Friday, and the online site Sea weather in Pigeon Point Beach forecasted for today that vacationers to be careful, the sea will be generally rough with a wind speed of up to 42 km/h km/h (with gusts up to 48 km/h).
Wave height will be up to 2 m today.
Yesterday, the already-filled ferry carried some of the passengers in the morning sailing while others had to wait for the 2 pm sailing.
Commuters said it was ridiculous that the Galleons Passage was not in operation to pick up the slack over the holiday weekend, only to be told that the vessel was being serviced.
Stand-by passengers were told not to get their hopes too high since the afternoon sailing was already filled to capacity and preference would be given to passengers who were booked on Friday. There will be no sailing on Christmas Day. The next sailing is on Boxing Day.
The next available flight to Tobago is on December 31.