Ferries were not going to be repaired in time

The Millennium ferry had to be brought in because “repair milestones could not be met” on Bermuda's ferry fleet ahead of the cruise season.

Tourism and Transport minister Shawn Crockwell made that announcement in the House of Assembly this morning.

He said: “As a result of the increased vessel age the Department (of Marine & Ports) has over the last 12 months sought extensive assistance from overseas vendors in order to overcome technical challenges with onboard systems that may intermittently malfunction and ultimately threaten to cause a sustained service interruption.”

Minister Crockwell said “an extensive work programme” was started on the ferry fleet but it could not meet the timeline to have them all ready by May.

He said part of the problem is that the only one of the four jet propulsion ferries could use the only slipway cradle in Bermuda able to handle a boat of that size.

“Even our Dockyard facilities are proving an increasingly challenging environment to perform shipyard work given the tourism and retail developments nearby and on some occasions an onshore wind direction meant that repair work had health and safety implications and has had to be suspended.

“We endeavor to reach a position that the only boat out of service becomes the boat that we deliberately pull from service for scheduled maintenance.

He said because of that the Millennium ferry was needed.

Mr Crockwell said on Wednesday, the Millennium handled 1,438 passengers.

A mate on the Millennium, who is from the US, is training a Bermudian and will leave after “two weeks once a period of vessel safety familiarization has been completed.”