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Tinian ferry cuts trips
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Posted on Oct 12 2005
The Saipan-Tinian ferry service is now down to two round trips a day, except Tuesdays and Saturday, because of last Monday’s accident on Tinian.
The Tinian Shipping and Transportation Inc. issued a revised schedule yesterday that further cut the ferry’s operations.
The transportation company has only the Saipan Express vessel currently operational, after the Tinian Express ran aground on the cliffline below the Tinian Dump Coke area early Monday morning.
Tinian Shipping initially cancelled only two of its 10 daily trips: the 10:30pm trip from Tinian and the midnight trip from Saipan.
Citing operational limitations, however, the company again revised its schedule effective yesterday, Oct. 12, 2005.
Trips will now be made only at daytime, departing from Tinian at 8am and 1pm and departing from Saipan at 9:30am and 5pm.
Special trips will be made on Tuesdays and Saturdays when there are charter flights coming in from China. On these two days, the ferry will leave Tinian at 1:30am and Saipan at 3:30am.
Saipan seaport manager Lee Cabrera said the broken vessel is still on Tinian. Because of the extent of the damage and lack of needed facilities in the CNMI, the boat will have to be brought to the Guam for drydock and repair, he added.
All of the 12 passengers, who were mostly Chinese tourists, and the boat’s co-captain were slightly injured when the accident took place at 1:18am Monday on the western side of Tinian.
The port is located at the southern side of the island.
The ferry sustained severe damage to its front portion.
It was not immediately known what caused the accident.
Based on normal schedule, Tinian Express leaves Tinian at 1:30am, 8am, 1pm, 7pm and 10:30pm; the ferry leaves Saipan at midnight, 3:30am, 9:30am, 5pm and 8:30pm.
