Suspension of Kuala Perlis-Langkawi ferry services from Feb 10-13

 

ALOR SETAR: Passenger ferry services from Kuala Perlis to Langkawi and vice-versa will be suspended from Feb 10 to 13 due to low tide.

Online travel platform Cuti-Cuti Langkawi Sdn Bhd, in a statement today, said the ferry services for the route would resume by Feb 14.

Meanwhile, Konsortium Ferry Line Ventures human resources and operations manager Baharin Baharom said the decision to suspend the Kuala Perlis-Langkawi route was made due to safety reasons.

"It is not safe for both passengers and ferry crew to operate the route during the low tide period.

"The ferries would be unable to berth or depart from the Kuala Perlis jetty during that period as the sea water level could get as low as under 1.6 metres during low tide," he told The New Straits Times.

The consortium operates up to four ferry trips from Kuala Perlis to Langkawi and vice-versa daily, apart from operating another route from Kuala Kedah to Langkawi and vice-versa.

Baharin gave his assurance that ferry services from Kuala Kedah to Langkawi and vice-versa would be able to accommodate the passengers to and from the tourism island.

"We advise passengers to check on the ferry schedules to plan their travel time," he said.

At the same time, Baharin appealed to the Ministry of Transport to expedite maintenance dredging works at the Kuala Perlis Jetty to resolve ferry service disruptions during low tide.

He said maintenance dredging works to excavate mud from the Kuala Perlis jetty seabed should be carried out every two years but the last project was done several years back.

This led to several incidents of passengers being stranded for hours as the ferry could not berth at the jetty during low tide.

It was learnt that the Malaysia Marine Department had opened a tender for the maintenance dredging works in December. The tender closed on Jan 13.

-nst online.