THE 40ft floating book shop, Logos II, sailed into Kingston six days early, after choppy seas and high waves off the coast of Port Antonio prevented it from terminating at the Port Antonio Marina on Thursday as planned.

According to David Waugh, volunteer crew member, the ship arrived at the Port Antonio pier at 6 am on Thursday as scheduled; but the pilot could not go out to sea to escort the boat to port because of the rough seas.

“On reaching Port Antonio, the Logos II captain, Arnie Jensen and director, Lawrence Tong, were instructed by officials of the Port Authority of Jamaica, which is in charge of the Marina, not to approach the berth because of the strong current and large waves,” Waugh issued a statement saying.

“And we were warned that taking the ship into the port without being accompanied by the tugboat would compromise the crew. So a unanimous decision was taken on board to divert to Kingston, which would have been the next scheduled stop”, explained Waugh, who is also the project co-ordinator for the Kingston leg of the Logos II visit to Jamaica.

Waugh said the ship would remain at the Kingston Wharves until arrangements can be made for it to berth at the Rockfort Cement Company, where the Kingston visit will be accommodated.

But this development was little comfort to thousands of Portland residents who had eagerly awaited the ship’s arrival on Thursday.

It would have been the first visit by Logos II to Portland, and the last chance for residents there to go on board the ship, which is on its final journey to Jamaica before being sent to dry dock.

Yesterday, Waugh apologised to the people of Port Antonio for not being able to stop in the eastern part of the island as planned. He also thanked the Mayor of Port Antonio, Councillor Alston Hunter, pastors, church leaders and employees of the Port Authority of Jamaica who had been involved in weeks of planning leading up to the arrival of the ship, and particularly, for helping to get the Logos II diverted to Kingston at short notice.

“In spite of everything, we promise to fulfill our obligations to send teams from the ship to 10 churches in Portland on Sunday, as planned. However, with the ship docking in Kingston, the teams will have to travel to eastern Jamaica by road on Sunday morning,” Waugh explained.

In the meantime, he said, plans are still in place for the Logos II to open to the public at the Rockfort Cement Company from Wednesday, March 31 to Sunday, April 25. Its doors will be open to the public from from 10 am to 9 pm Tuesday to Saturday, and between 2 pm and 9 pm on Sundays and Mondays.

And in anticipation of a larger crowd than the 116,700 which went on board the ship in 2002, the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) will introduce a new bus schedule for visitors while the ship is in the Kingston port. A bus will leave Half-Way-Tree daily, every half-an- hour from midday until 9:30 pm, while arrangements will be made for buses to take visitors from the Rockfort Cement Company to Half-Way-Tree.

The Logos II is the largest floating book shop in the Western Hemisphere, with a stock of half-a-million books comprising 4,000 titles covering such areas as science, technology, sport, hobbies, cookery, art and philosophy. A large selection has been devoted to children, while there will be a large stock of bibles for sale. The ship has a crew of 200 Christian volunteers from more than 40 countries, including Jamaica.