TT: At last!

The new $200 million fast ferry will be here for Christmas.

The Government Central Tenders Board (CTB) has awarded a contract for the supply of the fast ferry on a lease/purchase agreement to the Australian firm of Incat Corporate of Prince of Wales Bay, Hobart, Tasmania. The company will take between five and six months to deliver the ferry.

Incat has been manufacturing fast ferries since 1990 and has so far supplied over 40 per cent of the world's needs including the US Navy. A smaller model of the ferry is operated by Caribbean Ferries between Guadeloupe and Martinique via Dominica and St Lucia.

The ferry is 98 metres long with a draft of 3.7 metres and has a speed of up to 75kph. It has a capacity to carry 900 passengers and 260 vehicles. It is capable of covering the Scarborough/Port of Spain voyage in 2 to 3 hours. This model of the ferry has been described by Incat as a wave-piercing catamaran that can operate comfortably in waves up to five metres. The highest waves on the seabridge the Express was told were up to 3.5 metres.

I wonder if the ride through the Bocas will be as thrilling? The first and last time I went to Tobago by ferry, the sea moved like dubyas in constant motion. When I looked out through the ports, all I could see was big waves and troughs. To make the trip more lively, people all around me were puking their guts out; some were even lying in the path of other people's barf.

To make sure I didn't join the barfing gang, every now and then I went up top to get some fresh air or just walked around for a change of scenery. There is something about spending years riding NYC's subways when they were really bad that prepares a girl's stomach for riding a ferry between Trinidad and Tobago. The voyage then took about six hours, I think. With this new ferry that will come on stream, the duration of the suffering will be considerably reduced to 2-3 hours.

I don't know if this "wave-piercing catamaran" can really handle the big waves that are prevalent in the Bocas. Guess time will tell.