monasqueen Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 I would love to hear the views of some of our esteemed MHK's here on this... Un;ess they've been muzzled? I've heard reports about the Travel Watch meeting in Villa Marina on Saturday morning in which one stated bluntly that he would oppose any attempt to subsidize the SP - are the minutes/report of what sounded like a very interesting meeting available ? You mean to say you did not go to the meeting yourself?! What you are clearly referring to is Bill Mallarkey's outburst, which was not part of the actual agenda of the meeting, (which covered all forms of transport on the Island) but was made as part of "any other business". The main points he made have been covered quite well in a Manx Radio interview, however this does not appear to have been published in any other format. Why is it not on Manx Radio's website news page yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monasqueen Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Whatever it is there's still no papers in yet dies that say more about the reliability of air services Last night's sailing was in the published timetables, so presumably there would have been people/freight booked on it? Or is this the thin end of the wedge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy730 Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 For example, are Tesco and Shoprite now contractually bound to Mezeron? I think their contract is with Graylaw and it's Graylaw that is dealing with Mezeron Would you happen to know what the tie up is between Graylaw and Stobarts then, as I’m sure that Tesco’s stuff is in Stobarts units? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Login Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 The purpose is to provide a service and generate a profit. You can't have one without the other. More people are travelling now than ever so the potential is there for a well managed operation to fulfil it's remit on both fronts. They are in a service industry so of course they are providing a service but there is not necessarily a close correlation. If the Liverpool boat is say on average 40% filled re passengers and 60% of cars and sales twice a day you might easily be more profitable only sailing one a day. Ceratinly that is the case if both less than 50%. There will also be a point where the savings from a reduced number of sailings offset the loss of revenue from not carrying all the available traffic. e.g. if a boat takes 100 cars one saling taking 100 out of the 120 available might be more profitable than than taking 60 on two. There is clearly a pay off and it may be possible to increase profitability by reducing service levels. Presently under the user agreement the SP is obliged to basically do 2 sailings each day throughout the year to Heysham and 1 a day outside major holiday periods to Liverpool increasing to 2 a day in major holiday periods to meet the requirements under the use agreement. I am sure it could probably provide a service by sailing just once a day to each and it may increase profits. That is still providing a service just at a lower level. With regard to the SP and Mezzeron I actually think there are two debates one is do the majority care what happens to the SP, have they handled the matter well etc and I am sure the response is mainly negative. The other more interesting debate in my opinion is should there be some sort of control over service levels and price or do we just accept what the open market dictates even if that is a very minimum but expensive service. If we do believe some level of control, want sort of control mechanisms should be introduced and would work. e.g should the harbour fees include a levy to subsidise transport links by sea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 (edited) For example, are Tesco and Shoprite now contractually bound to Mezeron? I think their contract is with Graylaw and it's Graylaw that is dealing with Mezeron Would you happen to know what the tie up is between Graylaw and Stobarts then, as I’m sure that Tesco’s stuff is in Stobarts units? stobarts will be tescos main haulage units in the uk. Must be quite nice for the steam packet to have shipped in mezearons new crane, o the irony of that Edited November 7, 2010 by gazza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robertshaw Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 (edited) Sean - I went to the TravelWatch Meeting. The TravelWatch people seemed to be taking minutes so it would be interesting to see if a transcript does become available in time. I think my views are very well known already - the User Agreement in the form that it took was a dreadful, well intentioned, mistake. I said so in the Isle of Man Examiner when it was first proposed in 1994 (year?), I have said so since and I say so again now. It has led to a series of unintended and unforseen consequences (at least on the part of our government and the IOMSPCo respectively) These being the huge debt that it created on the international money markets at the height of the financial boom and now the realisation by the ferry company owners that they have not got the complete monopoly they thought they had. The owners of the IOMSPCo should have known better because according to the user agreement they signed it was always a real possibility. It is unfortunate that opinion is becoming polarized on here because everyone wants the same thing - the best for the Isle of Man. There were five or six companies between the actual ferry operation and the 'distant'owners (last time I looked) and I dont think it is helpful for the owners of the debt(whoever they are now)trying to frighten everyone with bully boy tactics and scare stories locally. People must not allow themselves to be used like this. Edited November 7, 2010 by Chris Robertshaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 stobarts will be tescos main haulage units in the uk. They got both names on the containers, so must be some sort of co-operation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 well as graylaw are the tescos contactor here, and stobarts in the uk, i can see why they have there name on the wagons. good pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 BMC cancelled tonight, Kurkse departed L'pool about 6hrs earlier than usual pressure dropping like a stone at the moment(-2mb/hr) I expect cheekyboy will have late papers tomorrow too ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean South Posted November 7, 2010 Author Share Posted November 7, 2010 Sean - I went to the TravelWatch Meeting. The TravelWatch people seemed to be taking minutes so it would be interesting to see if a transcript does become available in time. I think my views are very well known already - the User Agreement in the form that it took was a dreadful, well intentioned, mistake. I said so in the Isle of Man Examiner when it was first proposed in 1994 (year?), I have said so since and I say so again now. It has led to a series of unintended and unforseen consequences (at least on the part of our government and the IOMSPCo respectively) These being the huge debt that it created on the international money markets at the height of the financial boom and now the realisation by the ferry company owners that they have not got the complete monopoly they thought they had. The owners of the IOMSPCo should have known better because according to the user agreement they signed it was always a real possibility. It is unfortunate that opinion is becoming polarized on here because everyone wants the same thing - the best for the Isle of Man. There were five or six companies between the actual ferry operation and the 'distant'owners (last time I looked) and I dont think it is helpful for the owners of the debt(whoever they are now)trying to frighten everyone with bully boy tactics and scare stories locally. People must not allow themselves to be used like this. Thanks for that. Regarding opinion becoming polarized, I believe that is because most of us are a bit peed off with the Steam Packet CEO's attitude and his tactic of trying to scare everyone and intimidate the public into fighting his battle for him. Also, personally, I believe competition, if managed properly can be very good. Every other business on the Island (and most other places) have competition of one form or another and they cannot go whinging to te Govt./Taxpayer for a subsidy. I still believe some form of licence/franchise should be put in place by the Government to manage the Harbours and ensure continuity of service by one or more operators and, as I stated earlier, it would be interesting to advertise for tenders to operate services and see what, if any interest is out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 BMC cancelled tonight, Kurkse departed L'pool about 6hrs earlier than usual pressure dropping like a stone at the moment(-2mb/hr) I expect cheekyboy will have late papers tomorrow too ! thing is when did they decide to cancel it. because this has been forcast for at least 2 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pongo Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 I expect cheekyboy will have late papers tomorrow too ! He should buy an iPad and give up on dead trees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blade Runner Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 I expect cheekyboy will have late papers tomorrow too ! He should buy an iPad and give up on dead trees. Maybe a daft question and I am prepared to be ridiculed! Why cant the papers be printed locally? We have the IOM Newspapers so what is stopping them doing it (after contract negotiation). Would seem more 21st Century to me? Shipping/ flying such a bulky/ heavy low cost product every day seems wrong on all sorts of levels to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pongo Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Maybe a daft question and I am prepared to be ridiculed! Why cant the papers be printed locally? We have the IOM Newspapers so what is stopping them doing it (after contract negotiation). Would seem more 21st Century to me? Shipping/ flying such a bulky/ heavy low cost product every day seems wrong on all sorts of levels to me. Print is in decline and there is no point introducing new technology to a dying model. It's too late in the game. You can Google the numbers - the readership is literally dying out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metisse Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 I expect cheekyboy will have late papers tomorrow too ! He should buy an iPad and give up on dead trees. Maybe a daft question and I am prepared to be ridiculed! Why cant the papers be printed locally? We have the IOM Newspapers so what is stopping them doing it (after contract negotiation). Would seem more 21st Century to me? Shipping/ flying such a bulky/ heavy low cost product every day seems wrong on all sorts of levels to me. Nice idea but where do they get the paper from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.