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VITRAN-Flagged Ferries Up and Running

Transportation Services started running its VITRAN-flagged ferry, the Cruz Bay I, Oct. 18, Transportation Services spokesman Kenrick Augustus said Monday. Varlack Ventures began using the Red Hook I shortly after that.

“We’ve been running a couple of weeks now,” Delrise Varlack at Varlack Ventures said, noting that she didn’t have the exact start date at her fingertips.

Transportation Services and Varlack Ventures share the route between Cruz Bay, St. John, and Red Hook, St. Thomas, on a franchise agreement with the local government. Both companies also make trips between Cruz Bay and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, but they’re not using the VITRAN-flagged ferries because their use is limited to the franchise route.

After they were dedicated in early December 2013, the ferries sat at various docks waiting for the paperwork between the companies and the government to go through. The ferries did run for the July 4 Festival on St. John using an interim agreement.

Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls said Monday that all the legal documents are now in order. “I hope the residents and visitors continue to enjoy the new boats,” he said.

Augustus said the paperwork was slow but he considered it a normal process when dealing with both the local and federal governments.

He said the Cruz Bay I is running fine. However, he said it got some scratches when it was tied up in Crown Bay on St. Thomas. When the boat is pulled out of the water for inspection, which is likely to happen in February, he said the company will get them fixed.

Varlack said the Red Hook I has no problems. “Nothing out of the ordinary,” Varlack said.

Augustus also said that in spots near the boat’s ramp where the “ropes” run, he wants to install aluminum plates to prevent the paint from being rubbed off.

The companies are responsible for maintenance on the boats although the local government owns them. They are leased to the ferry companies.

Augustus said that on the early morning runs between Cruz Bay and Red Hook, Transportation Services uses its own boats because it needs more capacity than the 200 passengers allowed on the Cruz Bay I. He said it was the same story at the 4, 5 and 6 p.m. trips.

He said that Transportation Service’s own boats carry up to 250 passengers.

Varlack Ventures also must use its own boats on the more-crowded trips. Varlack said the company’s largest boat is the Lady Venture, which holds 320 passengers.

Augustus said that when it comes to paying the V.I. Port Authority fees for using its docks, it’s usually cheaper to use the Cruz Bay I because it’s smaller.

He said Transportation Services pays the Port Authority $45.60 a day for however many runs it makes using the Cruz Bay I to the Red Hook Ferry dock. The cost for Transportation Services’ Caribe Cay is $53.60 a day. The daily fee for the Caribe Tide is $48.60 and, for the smaller Caribe Time, it’s $37.80 a day.

On top of those fees, Transportation Services pays a daily dockage fee in Cruz Bay that runs the same per boat as the daily fee to use the Red Hook dock. The company pays the same fee to use the Charlotte Amalie bulkhead.

Varlack said the fee is 60 cents per foot per day.

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