Cabo Verde Interilhas makes 530 connections and transports 71,000 passengers in five weeks

Cabo Verde Interilhas has already made 530 connections and transported 71 thousand passengers in the five weeks of its entry into operation, said the company, showing itself to be “confident” in its route.

In a statement, the company said that on connections between Sal and Boa Vista to São Nicolau/S. Vicente, and for Praia there was a demand of 9,000 passengers on the 103 trips made, corresponding to 1,800 passengers per week.

According to the document, the concessionaire for the maritime transport of passengers, vehicles and cargo on connections between islands has been increasing its network of agents and ticket sales points, ensuring partnerships, in order to have “greater coverage” at national level. .

“The increase to more than 30 points of sale offers a greater capacity to respond locally in the search for tickets”, says the same source.

Currently, the company operates with four ships in different lines, but, according to him, the fleet will be reinforced next October with one more boat, in this case the motor ship “Sotavento”.

“This ship joins the operational fleet of Cabo Verde Interilhas, with the main objective of strengthening connections and maintaining the normal functioning of the activity, at a time when the Praia d'Aguada ship will have to go, in the first days of November , for maintenance and mandatory recertification”, reads the statement.

The company is “confident in its path” reaffirming its commitment that “it will do everything” to promote the necessary changes and improvements that will bring greater quality to the service.

Cabo Verde Interilhas is 51% owned by Transinsular and Transinsular CV, of the ETE GROUP, which has been operating in Cape Verde for over 30 years. The other 49% of the capital is held by national shipowners.

Recently, the Government authorized the Directorate-General for the Treasury to grant a guarantee of PTE 518 thousand to Cabo Verde Interilhas (CV Interilhas), as guarantee for a bank loan to be negotiated by that consortium and Caixa Económica and the International Investment Bank (IIB ).

The president of the Independent and Democratic Cabo Verdean Union (UCID, opposition), António Monteiro, reacting to this decision by the executive, considered that this will “increasingly solidify the monopoly in maritime transport”.

For its part, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV-opposition) noted that this endorsement of Cabo Verde Interilhas means that the “strategic partner had no money” nor “access to capital without State guarantees”.

The Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, defended that the executive's endorsement means that "the Government believes in the project".

Inforpress/End