Tobago Correspondent
Within a month, the Ministry of Works and Transport will put out a tender for a new custom-built cargo vessel for the seabridge.
This decision was made yesterday after a meeting between Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan, Port Authority of T&T officials and members of the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s Tobago Division.
At the end of a two-hour meeting at the chamber’s Scarborough office, Sinanan told the media a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new vessel will be out in October.
He said his ministry will continue collaborating with the Tobago chamber, and, if possible, will work towards a Caricom cargo vessel to serve the region’s needs.
Sinanan said, “Most of the concerns were presented to us before and we have found solutions. Most of them are ongoing and I think coming out of the decisions today, the impression I got is that they’re quite pleased with it. We will work together to make sure that whatever challenges, whatever problems are all addressed.”
He added, “Cabinet did take a decision some time ago to go out for a custom-built, cargo vessel to suit all requirements after we did consultations in Tobago with all the stakeholders. We do have the specs for that, we are fine tuning it and as we indicated to the chamber, that very soon they will see RFP in the newspaper for a new custom-built cargo vessel built to suit our requirements, similar to what we did with the passenger service, where we have two brand new vessels built to suit our requirements. ”
He said the Government was at the final stage of procuring the vessel and once the tendering process is completed, it will take between 14 to 16 months for the vessel to be built.
He said dialogue and discussions are ongoing to address the challenges of the operation of cargo and passenger vessels between the islands while minimising losses.
Chairman of the Tobago chamber, Curtis Williams, said he was satisfied with the decisions made at the meeting.
He said, “We were pleased with all the responses we got to the questions we tabled at the meeting, especially ones to deal with issues affecting Tobago in terms of even when a cruise ship is in port in Port-of-Spain and the Cabo Star couldn’t sail.”
He added, “So, there are a couple of other issues that we’ll look at and I think the minister answered them quite well. And we were very much pleased with this meeting and the arrangements that were made. We should have some feedback within a month.”
Following a fire on board the Cabo Star in its engine room last month, the vessel returned to service this week after three weeks undergoing repairs. That caused major disruptions and millions in losses for businesses in Tobago. It’s estimated that the island’s business community suffered $5 million in losses during the period.
