Yesterday, the Angra do Heroísmo Chamber of Commerce (CCAH) denounced “the successive failure of cargo ships to call at Terceira Island.”
In a Press Release sent to DI (Diários Insular newspaper), the business organization expresses “its public concern about the successive failure of cargo ships to call at Terceira Island, which has jeopardized the supply of essential goods to the local market.”
The CCAH notes that the most recent case concerns the delay in the arrival of the ship NV UML Vitória on Terceira Island, which was scheduled for October 8th.
“We learned that the Transinsular ship, which was scheduled to arrive at the Port of Praia da Vitória on October 1, suffered a breakdown. It was only a few days ago that a replacement vessel was found, the NV UML Vitória, which is only scheduled to arrive on October 8,” the note says.
This one-week delay for the Angra do Heroísmo business association “raises serious concerns for companies, especially given that the replacement ship will make a first stop on the island of São Miguel before docking and unloading its cargo on the island of Terceira.”

According to the CCAH, “a resounding blow to the daily activity of several companies, some of which are subject to the imminent risk of stock-outs.
“It is important to point out that our members have repeatedly expressed their concern about the constant delays in ships arriving on Terceira island, damaging not only the competitiveness of our economy, but also the development of the island and the Azores in general, with the accumulation of constant losses. There are successive failures to call on cargo ships, which jeopardize the supply of essential goods to the island,” says the CCAH.
“We cannot fail to warn of the severe impact that the delay in operations has on the availability of quality products on the market and on the daily economic sustainability of companies,” says the organization led by Marcos Couto.
The CCAH believes it is “essential that this situation is prevented” and therefore calls on the “competent authorities to mitigate the effects of this delay in some way.”
“Given the known shortcomings in air transport and the impossibility of moving goods and people by land, we reaffirm the importance of maritime transport in the context of the archipelago. It is essential to avoid, at all costs, failures that jeopardize the continuous supply of the islands,” says the note sent to us.
The CCAH says it is in favor of “a more resilient, efficient maritime transport system capable of meeting the logistical challenges of the Azores”, because “the stability and predictability of maritime transport are essential not only for the import of construction materials and consumer goods, but also to guarantee the supply of essential food products to the local population and to ensure the flow of our production.”

in Diário Insular – José Lourenço, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.