“Defective functioning” of one of the four turbines of the ‘Lobo Marinho’ causes delays in the trip, but does not compromise the safety of passengers
Porto Santo Line hopes to resolve next week the problem that was detected in Lobo Marinho and that prevents it from making the usual connection between Madeira and Porto Santo in the usual two hours and thirty minutes.
As DIÁRIO has learned, the maritime operator has been working, since March 29, to correct the problem that has caused the Lobo Marinho to make the trip between islands in three hours, information that, in fact, it makes a point of conveying to passengers on all trips.
“After numerous tests, and the arrival in Madeira of two specialist companies, which normally provide technical support for the ship’s main machinery, the problem that had been limiting the speed at which the Lobo Marinho sails was finally found”, observed Carlos Santos, administrator of Porto Santo Line, who said that the problem lies in the “deficient functioning of one (of the ship’s four) turbines” and that, essentially, it does not allow it to move at its usual speed.
The company is now awaiting the arrival of all parts by Friday (11th), taking advantage of the weekly stoppage on 15th April to carry out all necessary corrections, already identified and with a work plan that is being finalized, according to several tests that are still ongoing.
In its statements this Monday, Porto Santo Line recalls that there has been no interruption to the public service to which it is subject, with the exception of trips not carried out due to the weather conditions that have affected the region.
“All trips are carried out in compliance with all safety requirements, and this same safety has always been the first priority that Porto Santo Line has been guided by, and so the only constraint is the speed at which the Lobo Marinho has been sailing”, he admits.
On the other hand, when asked by DIÁRIO whether this problem could have been preventively corrected during the docking that took place in January, Porto Santo Line clarified that this type of failure, in equipment that follows a strict maintenance protocol, could not have been foreseen and there was no possibility of foreseeing it.
“The turbines are currently fully within the “running hours” – still far from 12,000 hours and requiring a “major overhaul”, and Porto Santo Line relies on the technical support of ABB, currently called Accelleron (a company created in 1883 with the merger of the Swedish ASEA and the Swiss BBC, and a world specialist in ship technology and machinery, with more than 110,000 employees) to correct the problem.