Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Breathlessly, they came, carrying suitcases, plastic bags and just about anything that would hold the few belongings they still had. Thousands of Haitian people, most of them homeless, have flooded the port, hoping for a ticket to hope, on board a ferry, being paid for by the Haitian government. This ferry, the Trois Rivieres, is headed for Port Jeremie on Haiti's far western tip, far away from the hopelessness that has become Port-au-Prince. "The government gave us 1500 gallons of fuel to go back to Jeremie to evacuate more people," said Roger Rouzier, director general of Marinetec, the ferry boat owner. Anaika Clement has been here three days with her mother and her friend. Their homes have been destroyed.
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Thousands of Haitians try to board government ship to Port Jeremie on Haiti's far western tip
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Families packing themselves into small, overcrowded row boats to try and reach offshore ship
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People climbed up sides of boat, passing belongings, children up the side
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Ferry owner on desperate Haitians: "They'll do anything to get on the boat"
Haiti
Haitian
Haitian
Haiti
Haitians
Haiti
Haitians
She and the others wait at a filthy wharf, littered with garbage and human feces, with cracks in the ground, from the day the earth moved in @placeholder, last week.
Trois Rivieres
They would row about a mile, to the @placeholder ferry, which was docked at the other end of the port.
Port Jeremie
Jeremie
Port Jeremie
The ferry's owner told CNN his ferry is licensed to carry 600 people, but on the last trip to @placeholder, there were over 3000 onboard.