Luanda - The more than 70 passengers stranded at Cargo Terminal in the municipality of Soyo, northern Zaire province, because of the mechanical breakdown of the catamaran that connects the Soyo/Cabinda route, are already receiving accommodation and food support, until the situation is resolved.
The guarantee was given on Friday by the Secretary of State for Land Transport, Jorge Bengue, who was speaking to the press in Luanda on the sidelines of the meeting of the National Interministerial Commission of PROPRIV.
According to Jorge Bengue, the support is being provided by the municipal administration and the company that operates in the respective terminal, which has precise indications to accommodate passengers until the resumption of transport activity to Cabinda and vice versa.
He reiterated that the passenger vessel is being repaired, with the forecast to be recovered within two or three days.
'From the point of view of the technical team, which is carrying out the intervention, there are guarantees that everything will be done to overcome the breakdown of the catamaran in less time, in order to continue the passengers' journey,' he added.
On the occasion, Jorge Bengue pointed out the problem of navigability in Cabinda as one of the factors in the stranding of the catamaran.
As an example, he said that one of the vessel's propellers had problems when it was maneuvering on the pier of the Port of Cabinda, and then hit the sand, at a time when the tide was high and the area was somewhat silted, causing damage to one of the propellers of the device.
Also following this situation, Sécil Marítima, the company that manages the catamarans, informed, last Thursday, in a press release, that its passenger vessels are undergoing technical repairs, so ticket sales and trips are suspended on all routes.
Therefore, the company advances that, as soon as the conditions are created, a timely communication will be made, so it asks for 'calm and serenity' to all injured passengers.
For more than seven years since the air connection between Soyo and Cabinda and vice versa was discontinued, maritime transport has been the only means that allows the movement of passengers and cargo on this route.
The inauguration of the Soyo River Passenger and Cargo Terminal, in April 2022, allowed the resumption of the maritime connection between Soyo and Cabinda and vice versa, through two passenger catamarans and one cargo catamaran. HM/QCB/DOJ
