New passenger ferry service linking Caribbean islands to be launched next month

A new passenger ferry service linking Barbados and several other eastern Caribbean islands will be launched next month, an official said Saturday.

The Star Ferries inter-island service will be based between Barbados and the French territory of Guadeloupe and will make stops in St. Lucia, Dominica and Martinique, said Reynold McClean, CEO of Remac Tours, a Barbadian company that will operate the service. The ferry can hold 400 passengers and will offer meals, a children's play area and duty free shops upon the service's launch in mid-September, McClean said. McClean said the service will be aimed both at tourists and businesspeople needing to move around the region. He declined to say how much passengers will be charged for the service. The company hopes to expand to other islands like St. Vincent and Grenada in time for the Cricket World Cup, which will be held in the Caribbean for the first time in 2007, McClean said, reported AP.