$41.7M Ceiba terminal project, new ferries to improve service
Puerto Rico’s ferry fleet will expand with four vessels to improve service to Vieques and Culebra.
As construction at the Puerto Rico ferry terminal in Ceiba continues, Josué Menéndez, executive director of the Integrated Transportation Authority (ATI, in Spanish), said in an interview with News is my Business that four more ferries will be incorporated into the fleet, with one vessel expected to be ready by year’s end.
“The state has five ferries; with these new ones, there will be nine,” Menéndez said. “So we will have more than enough to mobilize the demand we have” between Ceiba and the island-municipalities of Vieques and Culebra.
The new Ceiba terminal, which is backed by $41.7 million in state funding, will feature a 28,000-square-foot building with two levels and a terrace, including ticketing, administrative offices, a waiting area with a cafeteria, and rental concessions.
Additionally, “the boarding area will be covered so passengers can take shelter in case of rain,” he said.
It will also feature a multistory parking lot with capacity for 350 vehicles, and additional land for about 160 more vehicles.
The ATI chief noted that several capital improvement projects are underway in Puerto Rico’s transportation system.
“In August 2023, a contract was signed with Conrad Shipyard for the design and construction of four new vessels. This project represents an investment of $70 million, funded by federal funds after an auction process. The first of these vessels is scheduled to be delivered in late 2024,” he said.
The new ferries will be named La Borinqueña, Flor de Maga, Preciosa, and Isla del Encanto. Furthermore, ATI is evaluating the possibility of creating routes to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
By adding four state-owned vessels, “we are saving money” as the government will no longer need to pay a private company to run the ferry system, he noted.
“The ones we will use will be our ferries,” Menéndez said. “The good thing about having it fixed and configured this way is that we can provide maintenance to the fleet. The required preventive maintenance or dry docking can be carried out in a way that keeps them functioning without altering the service offered daily while a particular ferry is under maintenance.”
He acknowledged that “unfortunately, maritime transportation was submerged in inefficiency and poor service quality,” but assured that this has changed since “we came in 2021.”
“Nowadays, we are talking about an efficiency of 96%,” Menéndez added.
So if I’m reading this correctly, with the new boats the ferry service will go back under control of the government? I sure hope I misunderstood. While the system is not perfect now it is 150% better and more efficient than when government ran.
Paul you are reading it right 🙁