The cruise ship Funchal safely has docked in Portimão after a tug eventually arrived from Setúbal to guide it into port.
The 331 passengers on the Funchal now have disembarked and are making their way back to Lisbon and Oporto courtesy of coaches supplied by the company or by car with family that had arrived to await the ship’s docking.
The tug from Setúbal left at 05.30 on Sunday morning and arrived in Portimão at around 18.00pm to help the cruise ship that due to high seas had taken shelter off the Algarve coastline. The ship was sailing between Madeira and Lisbon. The Funchal was unable to enter port as no tug was available to guide it safely.
On Sunday the ship's crew tried to unload passengers at Alvor using a catamaran to ferry them ashore but this sensibly was abandoned due to the poor sea conditions.
Yesterday the Mayor of Portimão Isilda Gomes was forced to intervene and called on the government to get a tug to the Algarve pronto, which it managed to do but not after some delay and not without revealing that the region is totally unprepared for this sort of event despite having been promised a tug by the new Economy Minister during a tour of the Algarve last summer.
The Socialist Algarve MP Miguel Freitas has questioned the Government about the delay in getting a tug to the region in good time. The Algarve Communist MP Paulo Sá said the Algarve region clearly needs a tug based at Portimão.
In July 2012 the Parliamentary Group of the PCP presented to parliament a draft resolution, titled ‘Stimulation of port activity as a tool for economic development in the Algarve region,’ which recommended that the Government "acquire a multi-purpose tug to support operations in the port, as well as for the environmental protection of the coast and in support of international coastal shipping, fishing vessels, recreational boating, the maritime buoys, aiding the Navy on search and rescue missions, combating pollution at sea and marine research."
“Unfortunately, this proposal was rejected by parliament,” said Paulo Sá .
The parliamentary group of the PCP has questioned the Minister of Economy on the Government's later intentions regarding the acquisition of a tug to the Algarve. In the formal questions, signed by Paulo Sá, the communists want to know if the government "recognises that the use of tugs from other ports such as Sines (a 6-8 hour trip to Portimão) or Setúbal (a 12 to 14 hour trip to Portimão) is not an adequate solution and could it confirm that all national ports where cruise ships dock have tugs, except the Port of Portimão."
Paulo Sá wants to know where the Algarve’s tug is and when it will arrive.
A member of the Funchal’s crew died during the return trip to Lisbon. His corpse has remained aboard for two days, according to some passengers who disembarked last night and who added that the man had suffered a massive heart attack and had died as a result. The cruise company refused to comment.
Comments
Having no sea worthy tug on the entire southern coast of Portugal means that any ship in trouble or that loses power will be run aground, with the high risk of spilling their huge stores of heavy fuel oil all over the Algarve beaches.
Most big tugs are commercial, and obviously there isn't enough business here to make it viable to have an experienced crew and vessel standing by.
This will have to be done by the coast guard or navy.