A proposed cooperative deal between car barge companies Tuglife and Republic Barge Service, Inc.—which operates the Capt. Vic—to expand service between Red Hook, St. Thomas, and Cruz Bay on St. John has fallen through.
Jean Charlton, operations manager for Tuglife, said Wednesday that the plan, which would enable those buying a roundtrip ticket on one barge to use it on the other barge upon return "is a dead deal. For now."
She said Republic Barge owner Llewelyn Sewer had intended to set up a ticket booth in Crux Bay but it had never materialized, although Sewer and Tuglife owner Stanley Hedrington "still talk about it occasionally." Charlton said it is possible such a plan might be enacted sometime in the future.
The plan would have added a daily 11 p.m. run each way between Red Hook and Cruz Bay as well as runs each way every hour on the hour from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Hedrington said in October that the new service would entail a price hike of about $5 roundtrip.
