Many of passengers have been stranded for several days, which is a humorous situation. The crossing to Algeria from Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) had to be canceled by the firm due to a strike within Corsica Linea against the pension reform, causing passengers to remain in their car ever since, searching for a solution.
“They are on strike, but we are impacted,” bellows Zohra, 69, who drove alone by car from Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) to take the ferry. She remembers, “I did not receive anything” and “no one from the firm came to inform us,” but “there are some who were alerted at the last minute” of the crossing’s cancellation.
Sahbi Nassim, a 41-year-old tradesman who arrived from Paris, explains, “On Monday about 3:40 p.m., I received an SMS informing that the crossing (Tuesday) was cancelled, but no Corsica Linea manager came. “I couldn’t even get them to pick up the phone. The forty-year-old, who has already wasted nearly a week of vacation time out of the two weeks he was scheduled to spend in Algeria, continues, “It’s the last time I’m traveling with them.
“Until the beginning of April, there was no boat.”
Because, according to Allal, a 46-year-old temporary worker, “everything was packed, there was no boat before the beginning of April,” despite the Corsica Linea offering travelers the chance to be paid or exchange their tickets. Ramadan begins in a week.
Several passengers converse to pass the time and look for information as their cars or vans are packed to the gills with luggage, bicycles, and even home appliances. Because there is no other option, Sahbi and Zohra have been sleeping in their car, which is parked in one of the lanes of the road, since Monday.
We battled even to use the restrooms, admits Sahbi, who was able to take a shower owing to the kindness of another traveler who had reserved a hotel room. “This hotel has one star. Alternatively, to 1,000 stars in the sky, those in the sky,” Zohra quips from her car, which has served as her bed for the past four days. The retiree continues, “They told us to go to the hotel and bring back the money, but they didn’t think of the cars, whose loads pique the curiosity of pickpockets.
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Three improvised cardboard signs, on which we can read “SOS” or even “victim travelers,” have been hung on the entrance gate to the port, which is implacably locked. Finally, the passengers were notified that their trip had been postponed until Friday, which is also stated on Corsica Linea’s website. Yet, Allal asserts, “I won’t know for sure until I’m in the boat.