With less than a month to go be­fore the MV Cabo Star is ex­pect­ed to leave Trinidad and To­ba­go, a for­mer Port ex­ec­u­tive has warned that if a re­place­ment ves­sel is not al­ready near­by, it will be im­pos­si­ble for it to be op­er­a­tional by Jan­u­ary 12.

Speak­ing to Guardian Me­dia on con­di­tion of anonymi­ty, the for­mer ex­ec­u­tive said the con­cern is not the sale or de­par­ture of the Cabo Star it­self, but the shrink­ing time­line for a re­place­ment ves­sel to ar­rive, be cer­ti­fied, in­spect­ed and test­ed.

“The prob­lem is not the Cabo Star leav­ing,” he said. “The prob­lem is that there are on­ly about 23 days left, and if a re­place­ment ves­sel is not al­ready close by, it will not be ready in time.”