AREQUIPA, Peru – After the interruption last Sunday of maritime passenger transportation between the Isle of Youth and the port of Batabanó, that special municipality has been isolated from the rest of the Cuban archipelago. The problem, according to the authorities of the Island, will remain indefinitely, “until further notice.”
“A family of five people from the Isle of Youth with their tickets reserved and paid for a long time ago must travel to Spain on Tuesday, but they have not managed to reach Havana,” acknowledges the Cuban Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, in a publication from Facebook.
During a meeting of the ministerial and business authorities of the sector, the minister warns, ideas and alternatives were proposed that would “attenuate the severity of the moment,” but no date was set for the solution to the crisis.
“More than once it was difficult, especially listening to Walter, director of the Viajeros company, confess that he no longer knew how to respond to people unable to travel between the Big Island and the Isle of Youth, or vice versa, which generated situations sometimes dramatic,” says Rodríguez Dávila.
Among those affected, the owner also highlighted the case of a family that many days ago completed medical treatment in Havana for one of their children and now cannot find a way to return to their home in Nueva Gerona. “What was a trip of only a few days does not seem to have an end, with everything that entails,” he admits.
Faced with the debacle, the Cuban authorities justify themselves by saying that they “always” collide with “one obstacle or another”, citing among the main ones that one of catamarans The engines have not yet been fixed, having been sent abroad some time ago for a general repair based on a “financial effort to pay for that service.”
“Transporting that catamaran or another inactive at this moment with a tugboat, but with the advantage of having a smaller draft than the ferry, would involve many hours of navigation and tugboats are needed, in turn, for port operations; and thus an infinite number of complexities in each possible solution,” added Rodríguez Dávila.
After celebrating the return of the Perseverancia ferry from Batabanó to Nueva Gerona on November 10, the Cuban regime resumed regular operations of this vessel, the only one that currently offers maritime passenger transportation services between the two destinations.
In the publication, the minister comments that it is necessary to improve the conditions of the access channel of the port of Surgidero from Batabanówhose depth had been decreasing, which was accentuated with the passage through western Cuba of Hurricane Rafael.
“The officials and specialists of the Ministry of Transportation, of the Maritimo Portuario business groups GEMAR and GEOCUBA, and their companies, are aware of the implications and responsibilities we have with this issue,” wrote the senior official.
Meanwhile, the most massive route with a more stable frequency of passenger transportation to and from the Isle of Youth is affected, as there is currently no other port on the southern coast of western Cuba with the necessary conditions for dock the Perseverancia ferry, while it cannot do so in Batabanó.
In order to serve passengers with greater travel urgency, Rodríguez Dávila mentioned that some flights have been made in a small plane of the Revolutionary Armed Forceswhich “will continue to contribute to alleviating this situation in the coming days.”
At the same time and exceptionally, he added that he is working to create the conditions with the completion of the lifeguards and other preparation tasks to use the Río Las Casas catamaran, with a tugboat, to transport passengers, round trip: Nueva Gerona-Surgidero from Batabanó-Nueva Gerona, possibly this Saturday.
