Camara de Caminha seeks solutions to dismantle ferry-boat Santa Rita

A Camara de Caminha is making contacts with naval companies and trying to “unlock environmental permits and licenses” of the ferry-boat Santa Rita de Cássia, after having become deserted the contest to be dismantled for 70 thousand euros.

In statements made today to Lusa, the mayor, the social democrat Liliana Silva, explained that the intention is to launch a new competition to dismantle the ferry that for years connected to Galicia, but did not want to commit to deadlines.

“ No one ran [for the contest launched in October], with great pity for us. We are managing a very large machine to solve this problem. It is one of the dossiers that worries me the most”, stressed the mayor of Caminha, in the district of Viana do Castelo.

After the open competition to dispose of scrap has become deserted, the city has decided to make “new contacts with naval companies linked to scrapping and scrapping”, to see if they go to the site “to try to help with a solution”.

On the other hand, the House is developing “diligences with the Environment Ministry and the Galician Board [Spanish regional government] to unlock the necessary permits and permits”.

The mayor points out that the municipality is not allowed to move the vessel which, due to its degradation, can “put environmental problems”.

After that, the House plans to move on to a new public competition for decommissioning.

Liliana Silva recalls that the chamber “pays a lot of money per month for the ‘ferry’ in Spain”, to which it was moved in the previous term.

“ It is close to 2,500 euros a month just to have it there”, he criticized.

The president recalls that the vessel was stopped in Caminha “six years ago” and was “very damaged”.

“ We ask for a report, which says that the ferry is unable to be recovered,” he said.

In October, the House put in public haste, for at least 70 thousand euros, the ‘ferry-boat’ Santa Rita de Cássia, which made the crossing to Galicia.

The “Public Hasta for Scrap Alienation – A boat at the end of Life” provided for the submission of proposals until October 27, but none was presented.

In May, in statements to journalists, the mayor, Liliana Silva, said that the former ferry-boat would not work again, because the budget for the arrangement was 1.4 million euros, a value “totally incompatible for the finances” of the county.

The ‘ferryboat’ Santa Rita de Cássia, a link between Caminha to La Guardia, began to cross the river Minho in 1995, but over the years, the crossing has been interrupted several times, in some situations for long periods, or due to failures in the vessel or by silting the navigation channel.

In May 2022, the connection was interrupted due to “serious problems” at the Galician pier that prevented the docking of the ferry on the Galician margin but, resolved this issue, the silting of the river did not allow it to work again.