Kralendijk – The Port and Pilotage Department of the Public Entity Bonaire has made temporary arrangements, now that now that the on-duty tug boat OLA is not available full time.

The reason for the measure is the fact that tug boat owner KTK needs the boat more often at the home base on Curaçao, due to the fact that other tugboats are undergoing scheduled maintenance.

Under an agreement made between the government in Bonaire and e with the agreements made earlier this year between the Port and Pilotage Department, Bopec and KTK, the tug OLA is available when required. It is not possible to use a replacement tugboat for the OLA without having to pay (once again) a large sum to ABB on arrival at Bonaire. The Port Office, in consultation with the Netherlands Shipping Inspectorate, has identified how the services and safety in the port can be maintained during the period that the OLA is deployed in Curaçao.

Long-term solution needed

“By coordinating the arrivals of ships that cannot enter the port with all parties involved without towing service, we have been able to make a schedule so that no shipping company is affected and safety is not compromised. The advantage is that we have an open port, without a lock or narrow entrance, “said harbor master Günther Flanegin.

The deployment of the OLA is of a temporary nature. According to Flanegin, the permanent presence of a tugboat is desirable for further development of the harbor.