Welcome back to the world! Lifeline restored for St Helena islanders

Residents of a remote South Atlantic island‚ who lost their only lifeline to the rest of the world in March‚ have had it restored.

The RMS St Helena is scheduled to dock on Tuesday at the island it is named after. The 28-year-old cruise liner suffered propeller problems shortly after leaving Cape Town late in March‚ leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in St Helena‚ Ascension Island and Cape Town.

“As she came out of Cape Point they detected a shudder and they decided she cannot sail‚” said the passenger manager for the RMS St Helena‚ Susan I’ons.

“So we were sitting with people on St Helena with a ship in Cape Town ... there was a huge effect on everybody.

“People were not only stranded here‚ but also in the UK and on Ascension Island and St Helena.”

A week ago the first successful chartered passenger flight to St Helena flew out of Cape Town to pick up passengers stranded on the island.

I’ons said that on May 2 the British government chartered an Airlink plane‚ and brought back about 48 passengers that evening.

It was the first time a passenger plane had successfully landed on the remote British island. The flight took place almost a year after a planned royal opening of a new airport was cancelled after a test flight was severely affected by windshear.

The Independent in the UK reported that the British government spent R5-billion building the airport on the island‚ home to around 4‚000 people.

But it soon became clear that wind conditions would make using the runway nearly impossible for large passenger aircraft.

That meant extending the life of the RMS St Helena‚ which was due to be put out of commission last year.

“She was scheduled to have finished her regular trips in July last year‚ but prior to the official opening of the airport the windshear problem was discovered‚” I’ons said.

“Therefore they extended the life of the ship until September‚ then until April‚ and now it has been extended until February next year.”