The board of directors of the company Portos dos Açores stated in a communiqué that the regulation for the operation of ports under its jurisdiction specifies that “vessels and ships intending to dock at the port or use commercial piers must provide the port authority’s competent services with all information necessary to obtain precise knowledge of the scheduled operations and the means required for their execution, […] at times and with minimum advance notice to be disclosed, in order to provide them with appropriate assistance and swift clearance”.
The cruise ship Artania was scheduled for the port of Horta, on the island of Faial, for October 28, but “initially, the navigation agent for the ship had not requested the use of a tugboat for this operation […], which was only requested at 11:00 a.m. on October 27,” it explained.
“On that same day, the tugboat Ilha de São Luís, which had been in service at the port of Ponta Delgada, had a scheduled trip to Horta, a trip that was ultimately canceled due to weather conditions, namely swells along the route in the order of 4-5 meters, exceeding the recommended level for offshore navigation by that port vessel,” it added.
Faced with this situation, the public company managing the Azorean ports revealed that the Artania’s navigation agent was informed, “within the regulatory schedule, that is, until 4:00 p.m. of that same day, October 27, that the ship in question could not rely on the towing services only requested on that date,” but the ship’s captain “decided to attempt to dock” on the island of Faial the following day.
“On the morning of October 28, the Artania faced winds of 25-30 knots outside Horta Bay, a situation that made docking at the Faial port unfeasible for safety reasons regarding the maneuvering of the ship, its passengers and crew, and also for the integrity of the port infrastructure,” it reads.
The president of the Municipality Council of Horta, on the island of Faial, requested on Wednesday clarifications from the Portos dos Açores board concerning the cancellation of the Artania’s docking at the local port.
“The basis for this demand is the lack of a tugboat at the port of Horta, which has been used in other ports in the region, hindering the adequate development of operations at the port infrastructure and, just yesterday [Tuesday], prevented the Artania from docking on the island of Faial,” the municipality mentioned.
Portos dos Açores also explained that tugboats are at the company’s service “wherever they can be used” and that, depending on the tonnage of certain ships, “it has become necessary to promote the movement of other tugboats from the port authority to either Praia da Vitória or Ponta Delgada, to assist in maneuvers and support towing service vessels with equipment ports on the islands of Terceira and São Miguel.”
The company currently has three tugboats available: one at the port of Ponta Delgada (São Miguel), another at the port of Praia da Vitória (Terceira), and a third at the port of Horta (Faial), which “complement each other in port operations whenever necessary”.
Concluding the note, Portos dos Açores assures that “it remains committed to ensuring that all ship operations occurring on the nine islands of the archipelago proceed always with all safety guarantees for the vessels, their crew, passengers, as well as for port equipment and facilities”.
