São Nicolau and Brava with maritime connections problems: Passengers stranded in the middle of Christmas at the quays of Furna and Tarrafal

The climate is one of revolt among passengers who are stranded at the Tarrafal de São Nicolau and Furna quays, on Brava. It's just that many – some of whom are teachers who want to spend the end of the year with their family – have seen, in the middle of the Christmas season, their trips canceled, without having received any prior notice from Cabo Verde Inter-ilhas.

According to operators in the sector, in question is a malfunction registered in two ships of CV Interilhas. It is said that the San Guan, rented for 300 million escudos for three months, is undergoing a technical assessment/breakdown and is anchored in Porto Grande de Mindelo. The Sotavento, which according to local operators is out of order and not because of bad weather as claimed by the ship's captain, remains in Porto da Furna. Hence the scoldings with the suspension of regular connections on the Brava/Fogo/Santiago/Maio and São Vicente/S.Nicolau/Sal/Boa Vista routes – CVI promises a statement on the matter at any time.

Thelma Ferreira, a Basic Education teacher at Escola Lucília Freitas in the João Baptista Zone of Tarrafal de São Nicolau, criticizes that she and approximately 25 other colleagues who had a confirmed trip for 24 hours this Friday, were surprised that they can only travel this Saturday, 21. «We are disgusted with this change, without the CVI having informed us of this in advance. For this reason, I and the other teachers in S.Vicente, who work in primary and secondary education, are protesting (see photo) against this situation at the CVI agency in Vila do Tarrafal, because this represents a lack of respect for us».

According to Thelma, the staff of the agency justifies that the problem of hand time could be at the origin of the postponement of the trip, but considers that this is false, because at around 10 am today the ship Praia D'Aguada left Tarrafal, bound for São Vincent. « The CVI could send us on this ship, which was with few people, according to some passengers we were informed. We are teachers who work in São Nicolau and we want to take advantage of this holiday period to spend the end of the year with our families in São Vicente», he vented.

The scenario is identical on Brava, which has been isolated from the rest of the country since Thursday due to lack of maritime connections.

According to Inforpress, passengers, bound for the island of Fogo and Praia from the pier of Furna on the island of Brava, have been stranded since Thursday morning, and say they have “no convincing justification” on the part of the crew. or the agency.

Passenger Paola Dias explains that, since Thursday at 07:00, she went to the pier in an attempt to travel to the island of Fogo on the ship Sotavento and then catch a flight to the city of Praia. But that, after so much waiting with the ship at the pier, they were informed that the trip was suspended, awaiting superior indications due to the state of the sea.

According to the same source, she said that later, around 4 pm, the trip was definitively canceled and the passengers returned home, to return today, the 20th, to the pier tomorrow.

This passenger also informed that she had a trip to Praia, a flight that she already missed on Thursday and is looking forward to being able to travel to catch the 08:30 flight on Saturday.

Jonathan Santos, another passenger who is at the Furna pier, said, according to Inforpress, that the problem comes from last week, when the Sotavento ship left the city of Praia, then had to return halfway and only two days later they managed to arrive in Brava on the ship Liberdadi.

Arriving in Brava, the return trip, according to her, was scheduled for Friday, on the ship Sotavento, having requested the presence of passengers at 07:00 at the Furna pier, but the ship did not leave, says Jonathan Santos .

According to this passenger, the information given to them is that the state of the sea does not allow for trips, but he contested, saying that a smaller boat left Brava, went to the Rombos islets and from there to Fogo Island.
“How can a heavy boat like this not make the trip? They have to transmit convincing information, because there are pregnant women, people with children, passengers with scheduled flights and many have already missed them and the situation remains critical”, questioned the indignant passenger, quoted by Inforpress.
Regretting this situation, the same source suggested that if the boat is not able to make trips, it should be replaced, as, he added, the agency is not responsible for their stay, or the cargo.

At this time, there is information that passengers received their tickets back, to await a decision by the ship's crew or the Inter Ilhas agency.

Maritime delegate and weather status

Contacted the maritime delegate on the island, Marino Rodrigues, informed, continues Inforpress, that for some days now the state of the sea has not been the best, having been issued a bulletin informing the state of the weather, mainly for the north zone, which led the ship's captain, according to him, to take the decision to cancel the trips.

He also added that this decision is being supported by the maritime delegation, since on Thursday the ship made a “turbulent” journey. This information is, however, contradicted by operators on the island in a statement to ASemanaonline, according to which the ship Sotavento suffered a breakdown – it had an engine problem, which sometimes stopped and took a while to start, on the Fogo/Brava route.

Inforpress tried to contact Inter Ilhas via telephone, but the results were unsuccessful, since the representatives on the island cannot provide any information. Illustration: Photos: Interior of the part (protests at the Tarrafal SN agency) and main part (Prava wharf, Inforpress).

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