"Protoporos" ferry crew fails to provide good service when vessel breaks down, passengers complain

Tonight, the "Protoporos" ferry has broken down when it was on route on the Kerch Strait ferry line. About 200 cars and 300 people were on board. Passengers claimed that they were not provided with the convenient conditions for the time of repair of the ferry and were not informed about the time needed to eliminate the failure.

In the evening of May 21, during the voyage from the "Crimea" port to the "Kavkaz" port, the "Protoporos" ferry with passengers and vehicles on board has broken down. Since the ferry platform mounts ensuring cars moving out have failed, the ferry was not able to approach the shore at the port of destination. The repair was completed after 2.5 hours.

According to personnel of the "Crimea" port, on May 20, 21, and 22, a storm warning was announced in the area of the Kerch Strait, and the ferry line operated on the actual weather. Meanwhile, during the day, the operation of the ferry line was not interrupted; however, in the evening of May 21, only two passenger ferries were on route.

According to eyewitnesses, severe oscillatory motion in the Kerch Strait has broken the mechanism of lowering the platform of the "Protoporos" ferry to the shore, on which vehicles and pedestrians move out.

The eyewitnesses have also noted that the ferry crew has failed to inform the passengers about the time needed to eliminate the failure.

According to the ferry passengers, at present, they are not able to continue their journey, since they got too tired because of the long trip, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.