Sotavento ship tilts dangerously and scares passengers

The ship Sotavento suffered an unexpected breakdown last night, Friday, on the route between the islands of Santiago and Maio. Passengers, scared, say it looked like the vessel was going to sink. Cabo Verde Interilhas operations director, Carlos Dias, confirms   that the vessel had problems. “The ship turned to starboard and heeled to port, which is the same as saying, it turned then tilted to the side” , he says.

According to Carlos Dias, the damage was confirmed to the company by the Commander of Sotavento, who explained that the ship's rudder unexpectedly locked, which caused the vessel to turn to starboard and then list, that is, tilt to port. Confronted with the passengers' information that the ship tilted dangerously to the side, which led them to think that the Sotavento was sinking, he explained that it was just a quick turn that made the boat tilt.

“The men of the sea know that when the ship turns, it lies on the opposite side. But it doesn't mean that there are safety problems because the ship stabilizes again afterwards”, clarifies Dias. He admits, however, that this situation scares people. ′′ I believe that's what happened ′′ . “I know that the passengers got scared and had to be calmed down. They were told that everything was normal and the trip continued without further constraints”, concludes the operations director of CV Interilhas.

Constance of Pina