The T&T Spirit has been pulled off the inter-island seabridge until Saturday at earliest, Port Authority of T&T chairman Lyle Alexander confirmed yesterday.
Within recent weeks, the vessel has been plagued by mechanical problems which have resulted in several delays and cancellations. The vessel has not sailed since developing mechanical issues on its journey from Tobago to Trinidad on Monday morning.
However, Alexander yesterday that the current maintenance schedule should not be blamed for the mishap. He said the vessel had to be pulled because a part needs to be acquired from abroad to effect the repairs
“The part has been identified and has been located in Germany. We are awaiting the arrival, we expect them on Thursday (today), they come on Thursday, they repair on Friday and we will be back online by Saturday,” Alexander said.
He insisted the vessel is being vigorously maintained but stressed that safety is paramount.
“Repairs on a Wednesday don’t necessarily address those issues. As I said we don’t open a part to check that is something that ought to have been checked or simply opened and phased out, because it made a certain amount of hours, so those are the things that ought to have happened and they did not obviously and we are now paying for having not done those kinds of things before. But those are not the kinds of issues that are dealt with on a weekly maintenance schedule,” he said.
Alexander described the part to be sourced as a ‘web connector’, which is found near the engine of the vessel to aid in effective movement. However, he was unable to give an estimated cost of the replacement part.
Although the Galleons Passage does not sail on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday it will be called upon to fill the breach in the interim, Alexander said.