{"id":75493,"date":"2026-02-04T00:11:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T03:11:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/889171602"},"modified":"2026-02-04T00:11:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T03:11:46","slug":"tobago-businesses-sound-alarm-amid-ongoing-cargo-disruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/tobago-businesses-sound-alarm-amid-ongoing-cargo-disruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Tobago businesses sound alarm amid ongoing cargo disruption"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Elizabeth Gonzales<\/p>\n

Senior Reporter<\/p>\n

[email protected]<\/a><\/p>\n

Tobago has now gone more than three weeks without a dedicated cargo service, and business leaders warn the island is on the brink of serious economic damage as shortages deepen and major events are cancelled.<\/p>\n

The Tobago arm of the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce said there had been no reliable cargo movement since January 12. <\/p>\n

Guardian Media observed empty shelves in supermarkets, with items such as toilet paper, water, bread and meat either scarce or unavailable.<\/p>\n

Tobago chairman of the chamber, Curtis Williams, said the fallout had already spread across multiple sectors, with construction grinding to a halt and wholesalers unable to replenish stock.<\/p>\n

Williams said the absence of bulk cement had stalled both small and large construction projects, while hardware supplies such as steel, sand and other heavy materials could not reach the island because trucks over three tonnes were unable to cross.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll construction projects that need ready-mix cement, they are at a halt,\u201d he said, adding that Tobago effectively had \u201cno cargo at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chamber chairman said the cancellation of the National Panorama medium band finals in Tobago had delivered a direct financial blow to the business community. <\/p>\n

The annual event was expected to bring players, spectators and visitors to the island, boosting hotels, transport services and small vendors.<\/p>\n

Williams said one establishment alone records profits of between $200,000 and $300,000 from the event, and warned the overall impact could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought the vessel would have been there in time so that we have a nice weekend where we can at least make some money,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s nothing happening now. The weekend is just going to be a quiet one.\u201d<\/p>\n

He warned that if cargo service was not restored within seven days, Tobago could slide into a full-blown crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that we don\u2019t ever have to use that word crisis,\u201d Williams said. \u201cBut by the end of this week, if we don\u2019t have a tangible solution, then things will start to go awry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hotel and Tourism Association president Reginald MacLean said the ferry disruption was already affecting hotels\u2019 ability to operate normally, with basic supplies becoming increasingly difficult to source.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t even get a booking to get my vehicle across with items required for the hotel,\u201d MacLean said.<\/p>\n

He said food supplies were among the items running low and warned of imminent shortages if access to Trinidad was not restored.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know the nitty-gritty, but I could tell you some of our frozen foods are running short. And if I can\u2019t get it from Trinidad\u2026we will run out of certain items by Tuesday of this coming week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Port Authority of T&T confirmed that the Blue Wave Harmony departed the Port of Scarborough at approximately 7.15 am yesterday en route to Trinidad for additional repairs, after berthing operations in Tobago were completed.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the authority said the vessel would undergo the required repairs in Trinidad and would only return to service after inspection and certification by the relevant international safety authorities.<\/p>\n

The Blue Wave Harmony was brought in to support the sea bridge after the lease on the Cabo Star ended on January 12. But it sustained damage while manoeuvring in the Scarborough port during sea trials.<\/p>\n

Tobago\u2019s business and tourism stakeholders said that while statements and assurances continued, press releases alone would not stem the losses already mounting across the island as they wait for a functioning cargo solution.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… three weeks without a dedicated cargo<\/span> service, and business leaders warn … there had been no reliable cargo<\/span> movement since January 12. … that Tobago effectively had \u00e2\u0080\u009cno cargo<\/span> at all.\u00e2\u0080\u009d The chamber … .\u00e2\u0080\u009d He warned that if cargo<\/span> service was not restored within …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}