423 ferry passengers arrived safely at Kuala Perlis

LANGKAWI - Some 423 passengers who were stuck at the Penumpang Kuah Ferry Terminal due to a ferry breakdown, have safely arrived at the Kuala Perlis Ferry Terminal yesterday (Feb 2) at 11 pm.

Operation and Human Resource manager for Konsortium Ferry Line Ventures Sdn Bhd, Captain Baharin Baharom said, initially, the ferry was scheduled to depart at 2 pm and it was supposed to be the last ferry to go to Kuala Perlis yesterday.

But due to the breakdown, the company had decided to delay the trip to 10 pm instead.

“The action was taken based on the latest sea level that started to recede at 3.03 pm.

“We will be putting the lives of the passengers and the ferry crews at risk if the ferry starts moving right away so we had to delay it until 10 pm when the sea level starts to rise by substituting it into Express Bahagia 99 ferry that can transport 555 passengers,” he said when contacted by Sinar Harian today.

Baharin said, although there was some altercation at Penumpang Kuah Ferry Terminal due to the incident, he hopes that passengers were able to put up with the unexpected situation.

“The decision was made for the safety of all passengers because if the ferry departs and the Kuala Perlis sailing route is recorded to be below 1.6 meters, the ferry would not be able to be anchored at the terminal safely,” he said.

Baharin also denied the claim that some passengers were stranded until Thursday’s morning due to the incident.

“All stranded passengers boarded the ferry at 10 pm and safely arrived at Penumpang Kuala Perlis Ferry Terminal around 11 pm.'' he said.

Several videos regarding the incident went viral on social media by displaying the real situation at Penumpang Kuah Ferry Terminal on Wednesday’s evening.

In the video, some passengers can be seen sleeping on chairs in the terminal while waiting for the ferry to arrive at 10 pm.