Positive Action Group - Possan Jantys Jarrooagh

Who would be best able to protect our ferry lifeline?

Protecting our ferry  lifeline is not the same thing as protecting the interests of the current owners any more than it is about pretending that the user agreement has served us well. Protecting our lifeline is simply about ensuring the Isle of Man has a good quality, value for money reliable service that serves our various needs well. In the heat of the current debate it would be very easy to lose sight of this important principle.

As a result of the arrival of a limited amount of competition in Douglas harbour the current owners have been responsible for the orchestration of some quite extra ordinary outbursts of late.

They first lashed out at some of their biggest customers only later to return with an apology. Then they proclaimed that if their freight customer base was threatened, this would result in passengers having to pay more. Next in line were the staff who have been deeply unsettled by events and,  I believe, have been used in a quite cynical fashion to promote the selfish interests of the owners. Finally we hear vague  rumblings of cuts in services sure to unsettle anyone not already upset by the whole episode.

All this begs the question – so, given the choice, who really would be best able to protect our lifeline if push came to shove?

Interesting to hear the Steam Packet wailing about 'unfair competition'. I'd have thought the User Agreement made them the unfair competition.

Bill Malarkey, Phil Gawne and Chris Robertshaw have got it right. The principal problem with the Steam Packet is that they effectively financed their owners purchase of them through debt ( see Tynwald Hansard and previous article). Bit like the recent ignomously departed owners of Liverpool FC.  

Their management have a lot to answer for. Buying one clapped out vessel could be deemed a mistake, but buying two vessels with engine issues that have elongated journey times is surely pretty careless. I understand that the Mezeron freight operation in Douglas operates on some land that was recently sold by the Steam Packet. I wonder if they blame our government or the User Agreement for that!

We may have to put up with some discomfort as the Packet try to swing public opinion by pruning the timetable to the minimum required under the User Agreement, but this is worth going through if it will result in us gaining an operator free of the debt burden and overbearing management structure that characterises the present company.