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The Galleons Passage will make its first sea trial at 6 am today from the Port of Port-of-Spain to Tobago.
The vessel is expected to service the seabridge from next week.
Confirmation came yesterday from Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan.
He spoke to Guardian Media after making a toast to the nation with dignitaries at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port-of-Spain, to celebrate the country’s 56th Independence anniversary.
Asked when the vessel will have it first sea trial, Sinanan replied, “Tomorrow. I can’t confirm the time because I am now going to the Port Authority to get that information.” Sinanan said everything has been set for the sea trial.
Pressed further as to when the boat will begin to service the seabridge, Sinanan said, “by next week.”
Yesterday, Port Authority of T&T (Patt) chairman Lyle Alexander said he was one of several people invited on the sea trial.
“As an invited guest I am told that we are leaving at 6 in the morning. I will be going.”Alexander could not say who were the other invited guests. The vessel is expected to dock at Scarborough, Tobago.
Alexander said they are expected to return to Trinidad the same day.
Questioned how many sea trials the vessel will have to undergo before being put into service, Alexander said, “the strict answer to that is as many as are required.”
He said the vessel has to go through a number of sea trials to be certified.
On July 16, the boat arrived in our shores after a four-month journey from China.
The vessel remained berthed at the Port of Port-of-Spain for a month before taken to Staubles Bay, in Chaguaramas three weeks ago.
During a Conversation with the Prime Minister in Tobago last month, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley told Tobagonians they should not expect a fast ride with the boat. The vessel is expected to make a one-way journey between Port-of-Spain and Scarborough in excess of four hours.
The Galleons Passage is a single hull boat that travelled at a top speed of 22 knots.
Giving an update on the Cabo Star, Vilma Lewis-Cockburn, acting CEO of Patt said the vessel will go on dry dock from September 20 to 30. “The Cabo Star will sail until the 19 September.”
She said as an interim measure, the T&T Spirit will transport light trucks while the Cabo Star is out of service.