By LEISELLE MARAJ Friday, August 28 2009

T&T Spirit, the inter-island ferry, was delayed for about three hours yesterday after an unidentified woman jumped out of the vessel and into the sea as it sailed from Scarborough to Port-of-Spain yesterday.

According to eyewitnesses, 15 minutes into the sailing from Tobago, which had already been set back by an hour, the woman stood at the back of the ferry repeating the name of Jesus before jumping into the sea. Some passengers stood by the railing shouting obscenities at the woman while others rushed to inform the ferry’s crew about what happened.

A release issued by the Port Authority stated the captain was alerted and proceeded to turn it around, allowing the crew to carry out a search and rescue operation.

Eyewitnesses further stated they were informed over the ferry’s public announcement system of what occurred and were asked to help locate the woman. After about ten minutes, she was spotted and a lifeboat was sent with crew members to rescue her.

The Port Authority stated the incident occurred at about 3.15 pm.

The port’s Deputy CEO Leon Grant said the crew attended to the woman during the resumption of the ferry’s voyage. An ambulance dispatched by TT Global Medical Response arrived at the Ferry Terminal in Port-of-Spain at about 6.15 pm, 15 minutes before the ferry docked. The ambulance was driven onto the ferry by emergency personnel and then departed with the woman while vehicles were boarding for the return trip to Tobago.

“The Port Authority is grateful to the captain and the crew of the T&T Spirit for their prompt response in the matter. We wish to advise that further investigations in this matter will be conducted,” Grant said.