A heated debate has emerged over the viability of a new inter-island ferry network linking Barbados and member states of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), after an industry consultant questioned whether the service could withstand the region’s sea conditions. Project leader Dr Andre Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Barbados-based Pleion Group — parent company of service operator Connect Caribe — has pushed back hard against these claims, telling Barbados TODAY on Thursday that the vessels selected for the route are engineered to handle far harsher open-ocean conditions than the Eastern Caribbean ever produces.
The controversy began earlier this week, when economic aviation consultant Jeremy Stephen raised sharp doubts about the project, arguing that frequent high swells and choppy water would make the ferry service unworkable. Thomas rejected this assessment outright, noting Stephen’s concerns lacked credible scientific backing, and outlined the design and track record of the overnight cruise ferries Connect Caribe plans to deploy.
The vessels planned for the regional service belong to the large roll-on/roll-off passenger (Ro-Pax) vessel class, purpose-built to carry passengers, private vehicles and commercial freight across long-distance open water routes. Thomas pointed out that identical classes of ferries are already operated profitably year-round by major global shipping firms in far rougher international waters. These include DFDS’ cross-North Sea routes between Newcastle-Amsterdam and Copenhagen-Oslo, P&O Ferries’ Hull-Rotterdam service, and Brittany Ferries’ long-haul connections from Portsmouth to Caen and Santander.
Thomas explained that the ferries earmarked for the Caribbean corridor range from 20,000 to over 60,000 gross tonnage, with deep drafts, active fin stabilizers, on-board cabins, restaurants, and dedicated full decks for vehicles and cargo. These large displacement vessels are explicitly designed for overnight open-water operation in conditions far more challenging than any recorded in the Eastern Caribbean, he added.
“By any objective measure, the Eastern Caribbean is one of the calmest open-water ferry corridors in the world,” Thomas stated. “The claim that it is ‘too choppy’ to support a viable ferry network does not survive a five-minute look at global maritime data.” He added that modern large overnight cruise ferries operate daily, profitably, and year-round in waters that see wave heights two to five times higher than the Eastern Caribbean’s typical conditions.
To back his argument, Thomas cited publicly available data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Hurricane Center, which shows the Eastern Caribbean’s average significant wave heights sit between three and seven feet, or 1 to 2 meters. Even during stronger trade wind surges, wave heights only reach five to eight feet, or 1.5 to 2.5 meters — conditions that Thomas says are well within the normal operating parameters for the planned vessel class.
Thomas also pointed to longstanding regional precedent that proves the corridor is suitable for ferry operations. Germany’s FRS Group-owned FRS Express des Îles, formerly L’Express des Îles, has run scheduled passenger services across the exact same Eastern Caribbean stretch — connecting Guadeloupe, Les Saintes, Marie-Galante, Dominica, Martinique, and Saint Lucia — for more than 37 years, carrying roughly 850,000 passengers annually. This existing operation, Thomas argues, definitively confirms both that passenger demand exists and that the region’s sea conditions are suitable for sustained ferry service.
While smaller regional passenger ferries already operate in the area, Thomas noted that the Eastern Caribbean currently lacks a large, stable overnight cruise ferry service that connects a broader network of islands, accommodates vehicles and freight, and positions inter-island travel as a comfortable, experience-focused journey for both locals and visitors. The project leadership’s pushback against criticism comes as stakeholders work to advance the landmark regional connectivity initiative.