It’s been more than two years since a vessel has gone on the slipway at the Ronald Reagan Marine Railway in Satala. Yesterday, the slipway was put to good use as the tugboat Sailele was successfully pulled up for repairs.
During repairs of the slipway in 2019, both cradles went off their tracks causing major damage to the facility. There was little hope that the shipyard would be able to carry out any ship repairs until a lengthy and expensive repair was completed.
A lot has changed in the two weeks since the new board and CEO for the ship yard was appointed by Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga.
After the Sailele was pulled up yesterday, CEO Carlos Sanchez told KHJ News, “What we did today was all about teamwork. There is not one person that can do that work by themselves. I am lucky that we have a good team at the shipyard. It’s the same people that worked there when we recuperated the ASG shipyard from MYD Samoa 10 years ago. It was the same team.”
Governor Lemanu and along with members of the Shipyard Authority Board, Chairman Senator Togiola Tulafono and Senator Fano Shimasaki were on hand to witness the milestone event yesterday.
Sanchez, who headed the shipyard during the second term of the Togiola/Faoa administration, said, “We are also fortunate to have a very supportive Board of Directors composed of individuals that know about boats, our ocean, our economy and the needs of American Samoa. As we did before, we came into this shipyard with zero monies, no tools and no materials. But we went through this process before.”
He said he asked the group to come and work without pay if they believe in themselves.
“We believe in the asset that we have and the ability to produce the money to pay for everyone and everything,” he said.
Without the repairs in progress, the Sailele will not be able to pass U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) certification. This would put the tugboat out of operation. The USCG requires two tugboats to bring large vessels in and out of the harbor. Closure of the port is a possibility if the tugboats are not certified.
Sanchez said if the repairs could not be done locally, they would have had to send the Sailele to Honolulu which would have meant taking it out of operation for three months.
During this time, port would have needed to hire another tug boat. Hires usually come from Apia and are very costly.
The Sailele repairs should take one month if all the parts needed for the job are available locally and more if parts are sourced from off island.
Photos: Christina & Carlos Sanchez
