The management of Ferries del Caribe expects the Caribbean Fantasy to be back in operation in two weeks after the ship rammed into the Port of Santo Domingo causing structural damages to the ship and the port. No passengers or crew were injured as a result of the crash that occurred around 8:30am on Thursday, 18 May 2017, shortly after the ship arrived to port from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The ramp of the ship collided with a wall of the Port of Sans Souci in Santo Domingo as it was docking. Damage to several freight containers on the dock was also reported.
The president of Ferries del Caribe, Néstor González García, said the service would resume once the port authorities, the Coastal Guard services of the United States and Dominican Republic conduct inspections to certify the ship and the port facilities are sound.
Early reports suggest that a cable broke on the ship, leading to the collision with freight containers in the dock.
González congratulated the Dominican authorities, the crew and the port operators for the speed and effectiveness of the operation in response to the accident. He said that all pertinent security protocols were enacted in a timely manner. Traffic on Avenida del Puerto (Francisco Caamaño Deñó) was affected accident.
Jaime Castillo, executive director of Sans Soucí Ports, said that operations are back to normal at the western side terminal of the port.
Victor Gómez, director of the Dominican Port Authority, appointed a commission to conduct a follow-up investigation on the accident.
Ferries del Caribe had just restarted its operations with a new ship on 3 May 2017, after being out of service for three months following a fire on board in mid August 2016. The ship has capacity to transport 1,750 passengers and 111 crew.
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Remolacha
El Nacional
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
7 Dias
Noticias SIN
CDN
19 May 2017
