Passengers awaiting help at sea after ferry suffers engine damage

Southern Grenadines ferry MV Gem Star 2 was awaiting assistance around 8:20 p.m. Sunday after its engine “burned out” when its propellers became entangled in a rope.

One passenger on board the vessel told iWitness News that the situation was “frantic” while another said that it was “calm” as they awaited the arrival of other vessels to assist.

The ferry was returning to Canouan from an excursion to Carriacou when the incident occurred around 7 p.m.

Joel Bibby aka Tha Fugitive, a promoter who was the featured DJ on the excursion, told iWitness News that passengers realised that something was wrong when they saw a puff of smoke and the engine stopped.

“The announcement that they made was that a rope got caught in the engine, and the engine basically burned out and it cannot be restarted at the moment,” he told iWitness News.

Bibby said that passengers were concerned but began to calm down when they were informed that a tug and another ferry were on the way to assist.

“So, we are just here waiting until they come so that we can be towed into Canouan,” he said.

“It is calm. There is no panic or anything. Everybody is just relaxed and waiting for them to come,” he said.

Some reports had indicated that there was a fire in the engine room of the vessel, but Bibby said there was no smoke after the initial incident. 

“Earlier when it happened, there was a burst of smoke but that was it.”

He said the atmosphere on the ferry was not frantic, as another passenger had described it.

“You are not hearing any noise or anything. Everybody is just cool. After they made the announcement, everybody got a better understanding of what was happening,” Bibby said.

“When they announced, it was more relaxing to hear that one of the Express was on the way,” Bibby said.

“So, it is just a matter of sitting and waiting it out. … people are still buying drinks and all. People are still relaxing, some sleeping,” he said, adding that the ferry was somewhere off Canouan at the time of the interview.

“It is too deep to put down the anchor but we are just here,” he told iWitness News, adding that the boat was lit as it still had power.

Gem Star II replaced the original vessel, which fire destroyed in April 2019.

In April 2019, after smouldering for more than 36 hours while docked in Kingstown, the MV Gem Star was engulfed in flames when firemen opened a door to an area where carbon dioxide was being used to try to extinguish the fire.

The 150-foot vessel was then towed towards the western end of Kingstown Bay, where flames reduced it to a floating hull.

The floating remains of the vessel had drifted at sea overnight before being towed to the Ottley Hall Shipyard and Marina.