The Valletta Gateways Terminals Ltd has reacted to harsh criticism of its decision to try and block the disembarkation of the MSC Sinfonia at the deep water quay last Friday by expressing disappointment that people put commercial interest and convenience ahead of safety.
VGT said it was a clear-cut decision to attempt to stop disembarkation because the company said it valued the safety of 1,600 cruise passengers, the 500 cruise ship’s crew members, and countless other people working on the dock.
“We also value the well-being of our workers and want to ensure that no accidents arise from careless decisions. We want them to work with the assurance that their safety is not jeopardised by irresponsible actions of the management,” said VGT.
The company issued the statement through general manager Ricky Yong who said: “With the passage of time (it has been more than 40 years since Deep Water Quay was built), the 11,000 tons beyond the safety capacity of the berth as imposed by MMA, the unfavourable wind force that could cause the vessel to overstrain the structure of the quay, and the availability of a safer quay, it is obvious that it is not wise to berth the MSC Sinfonia at Deep Water Quay.”
Mr Yong continued: “We are fortunate that nothing happened, at least to the 1,600 passengers and the 500 crew members of the ship but something has already happened. The quay has already been further weakened, and the possibility that something may happen is now higher. We do not want to endanger the lives of the people that arrive in the next ship. Or the workers that work daily on that dock.”
The company then gave a list of what it said were facts pertinent to last Friday’s events:
Vessel Facts
Vessel displacement was 29,000 tons. Capacity of Deep Water Quay 1,2,3 was established by MMA at 18,000 tons and Deep Water Quay 4 at 25,000 tons. Said vessel berthed from DWQ 2 to DWQ 4. Therefore the vessel was 11,000 tons above the safety capacity of the berth as defined by MMA.
Wind Force
The wind force on Friday was 5 to 7 east northeast, blowing directly into Grand Harbour. With choppy waves and the large size of the vessel, the quay would be under tremendous stress.
DWQ weakened structure
Two months ago, part of DWQ (behind shed 1) collapsed due to an overloaded trailer carrying gypsum. The gross vehicle weight limit for inter-EU traffic is 40 tons. This particular trailer was too heavy for a weighing on the local weighbridge so its weight could only be estimated as 70 tons. By this argument, if an overweight trailer can caused such damage, it is easy to imagine how much damage a huge vessel which is 11,000 tons over the safety limit could cause.
A survey of DWQ discovered that there were a total of 23 “weakened” spots in the entire of DWQ which need to be rectified. Furthermore, DWQ was built in the 1960s; officially opened in 1964, the quay is already more than 40 years old.
A safer berth was offered
Days prior to the arrival of the vessel, VGT had already proposed a solution by offering an alternate berth at Magazine Wharf which has no limitations even though this would entail berthing the RoRo vessel MV Europa to Deep Water Quay and incur costs and resources to shift the transshipment cargo back to Laboratory Wharf. But this was turned down, the company said.