With the cargo ferry MV Cabo Star out of service until further notice, Tobago businesses are calling on the Tobago House of Assembly and the Central Government to intervene and asking the Port Authority (PATT) to make more information available on the boat's status.
Speaking on the Tobago Updates Morning Show on Friday, president of the Tobago Division of the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce Curtis Williams said Tobago is suffering.
On August 23, there was a fire onboard the MV Cabo Star after it left Scarborough.
In a statement, PATT said the fire started in the engine room but was isolated and extinguished by the crew in accordance with emergency protocols.
No injuries were reported, but passengers were stranded at sea for 17 hours.
Later that day, PATT said the vessel would be towed to Port to Spain for investigation by the insurers, certification by the Maritime Services Division and repairs to the engine.
It said, in the interim, cargo would be transported on three other vessels - the Buccoo Reef, the APT James and the Galleons Passage, and priority would be given to food and other perishables.
Williams said, 'When we look at the Galleons Passage - because that is the main vessel that can carry the trucks - the amount of trucks it can carry, that really can't help. We were coming to the point where you were going to stock up because you were coming to month-end, so we needed that extra stock, and this incident happened.'
He said the Galleons Passage could only take three-tonne trucks, and the situation is 'becoming a nightmare' as just recently the chamber had learned over 15 trucks were left behind in Port of Spain because of the limited capacity of the Galleons Passage.
'It's getting dire, and I can tell you that by the weekend, it would be worse - definitely.'
He added: 'Why, in 2023, we in Tobago have to suffer like this? Why?
'These are events that have happened in the past, and nothing has been done to bring any kind of solid solution to it, and so if that vessel doesn't sail, we suffer.
'And that's wrong. Something has to be fundamentally wrong there.'
The chamber's vice president Demi-John Cruickshank said, as a result, there is no cement, blocks, steel and a scarcity of food items.
'We spoke to at least two or three of the major distributors on the island. Their warehouses are empty at this point in time. So you had some rationing going on of what you can buy and how much you can buy. I spoke to people like Mr McConey with his chicken farm: we have no more feed and the chickens have actually started picking each other.'
He said if the vessel was not back in service by the weekend, 'We will have a serious, serious challenge on the island, more so than what we have now.'
He said when negotiations were held for the Cabo Star, it was a two-year arrangement. The chamber agreed to an additional year for securing a new vessel, but it has now reached six years.
'That vessel is not a new vessel, it's an old vessel, and that's why you're seeing all these problems. The vess
