Above: the US Virgin Islands
By the Caribbean Journal staff
The US Virgin Islands will soon have new ferry service.
Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls said the new service would traffic between Cruz Bay, St John and Red Hook, St Thomas.
“Following the recent completion of inspections administered by the United States Coast Guard, the two new state-of-the-art passenger ferries, Red Hook I and Cruz Bay I, are now undergoing a final going over before being turned over to the two franchise operators, Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures,” Smalls said.
The vessels are currently undergoing a hull cleaning process, along with the application of a coating to maintain the life of the running gear.
“The vessels are out of the water to facilitate this process. Since they arrived in the territory late last year, the ferries have been docked near the Crown Bay Marina,” Smalls said.
The operating agreements between the government and the granchisees are in final review before execution of all parties.
“While this been a long process to initiate service with the new ferries, I thank and commend everyone involved for their commitment in ensuring that we have a comprehensive agreement that protects the new ferries, vital assets of the territory’s transportation system.,” Smalls said.