“There are no water taxis operating between Kwajalein and Ebeye,” Kwajalein Sen. Jeban Riklon said Thursday. “The only land taxis working are those vehicles using diesel.”
About 1,000 workers commute daily the three miles between Ebeye and the Kwajalein missile testing range on U.S. Army barges, but water taxis provide transport options for workers and other islanders catching planes or conducting other business on the atoll.
The fuel shortage has been caused by a lack of government vessels to transport fuel to Ebeye and Jaluit, and a disagreement on shipping prices with the one available private vessel.
“We are having problems over on Ebeye,” Riklon said of the fuel shortage, which is affecting people¹s ability to cook food as well as transportation between Kwajalein and Ebeye.
Parliament Speaker Alvin Jacklick, who operates a fuel company that supplies Ebeye and Jaluit, said he is waiting for the government landing craft Jeljelet Ae to be fixed to deliver fuel to both islands. The vessel has been beached in Majuro for several weeks undergoing repairs to its hull.
Marshall Islands Shipping Corporation board chairman Alson Kelen said the company workers have been working around the clock during all low tide periods to perform the hull welding repairs. He said they are hopeful the vessel will be seaworthy by this weekend.
