That's why I have never understood the necessity of having what is effectively a broker/operator in the middle. I'd rather the profits be retained by the nations utility authority to invest in new infrastructure when the time comes, instead of going cap in hand to the tax payer quite so often. An Act of Tynwald could force MUA to set aside a certain percentage of the profit for future re-investment.
In the same vein, I'm also concerned that MUA will not have much of a say in any of the renewables infrastructure in the future, ie wind farm. Yes, there's capital investment to kick it off but the lack of critical mass on the Island would only serve to line the pockets of equity investment partnerships, just for being the broker/operator.
It's strange that having realised how important our sea lane is that the same has not been considered for one of our most important national utilities.