ALOR STAR: All ferry services between Kuala Kedah to Langkawi and vice versa for today have been grounded due to bad weather, affecting over 3,000 passengers.
Konsortium Ferrylines Ventures Sdn Bhd general manager Captain Dr Baharin Baharom said the decision was made due to strong wind and choppy waters.
"All the ferry operations between Langkawi – Kuala Kedah – Langkawi has been grounded for the third day due to strong winds of between 40 and 50km/h and waves up to 3.5 metres which may endanger the safety of passengers and crew.
"A ferry that departed from Langkawi to Kuala Kedah about 8.30am today carrying 589 passengers was forced to turn back halfway," he said in a statement.
The decision is affecting a total of 2,472 passengers that were supposed to board on five ferries from Langkawi to Kuala Kedah and another 1,041 passengers departing from Kuala Kedah to Langkawi on five trips scheduled between 8.30am and 2.30pm today.
Baharin added that any decision to detour the passengers to Kuala Perlis would depend on the jetty terminal's capacity to handle an additional number of ferries, based on approval from the Malaysian Marine Department.
"Affected passengers are entitled to seek a refund or request to reschedule their trip," he said.
It was reported that on Monday, 1,246 passengers were stranded when ferry services between Langkawi-Kuala Kedah and Langkawi-Kuala Perlis were suspended due to poor weather conditions.
On Tuesday, some 3,945 passengers travelling between Langkawi and Kuala Kedah were stranded following ferry service disruptions caused by rough weather.
State Meteorological Department director Muhammad Khalil Abd Aziz had issued a continuous rain warning for the northern region, including Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak, effective from Sept 15 to 19.