Latest update January 18th, 2025 4:20 AM
Four more ferries to be rehabilitated
Government has announced plans to rehabilitate four more marine vessels this year. These are the M.L. Allan Young, M.L. Thompson, M.L. Setter and M.T. Aruka. This announcement came after the M.V. Kimbia got a carnival welcome from residents of Kumaka.
The newly rehabilitated M.V. Kimbia has already started servicing the Northwest
That boat completed its maiden run to Kumaka last week.
It hadn’t made a successful run in four years, and the lack of service from it had resulted in a sharp decline in the trafficking of goods from Georgetown to Kumaka.
It had serviced communities along the Berbice River and the North West District. But with age, it began to break down before it could complete a voyage. In one case, it had to be towed in to the wharf, after being stalled miles away in the Atlantic.
But now, after a $488M rehabilitation, the boat will vastly improve service to Region One because it is bigger and faster than the other boats servicing those communities.
The boat was retired three years ago for major rehabilitation that included works to its steering mechanism, which were done by Brenco Shipping & Trading Company Limited, in collaboration with Damen Shipyards of the Netherlands.
Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, said that the boat should be able to service with no issues for about 20 more years.
Last week, the National Assembly approved $400 M as provision for additional resources to augment allocations for the acquisition of spares to facilitate rehabilitation of the four other marine vessels. Patterson, who requested the appropriation, told the assembly that the works are critical to improve safety, reliability and seaworthiness of the vehicles.
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