THE Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) has boosted its capacity with the commissioning of the pilot launch, the “Setter”, which had been out of service for more than two years.

According to a release, the project was awarded to Courtney Benn Construction Company last year at a cost of $37.4M. Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson was present on Wednesday at the commissioning of the vessel, along with representatives from MARAD and Courtney Benn Construction Company in the Demerara River.

Minister Ferguson told reporters that the project had no additional cost. She also spoke about the lifetime of vessels in fleet of the authorities. “Once we have periodic maintenance of these vessels, they can give us some amount of life. I also want to report that since we came into government, the Setter was down for two years. This government is committed to ensure our waterways are made safe. That is why we invested huge sums of monies to ensure that we bring these vessels back into operation,” she said.

The Setter adds to the authorities’ fleet of pilot boats, the other being “The Aruka”, which is in dock for servicing.

According to Courtney Benn, repairs to the Setter started in March of 2017. He said the electrical network, as well as the entire engine had to be completely overhauled. Benn went on to state that the work is of a good quality and he is fully satisfied with this type of work which was undertaken on the vessel.

Most of the vessels at the Courtney Benn wharf are over 50 years old. In Courtney Benn’s shipyard in Georgetown and Mazaruni, there are a number of other vessels which are being upgraded and they include the MV Kimbia, which is a joint project being undertaken with a team of Dutch engineers. The ML Thompson is also in dock for servicing.

“The Kimbia is in a bad state, especially the steering, so after we finish doing the engine we discovered that some years ago they took out [parts] from the vessel, causing the Kimbia to breakdown every time it goes out to sea,” Benn said.