Mezeron & Steam Packet Master Thread

[ThankU]

Nice to see Tesco's overnight delivery just arriving at the harbour. Would have been empty shelves in Tesco's today if it was up to the IOMSPC as they cancelled last nights sailing!!

 

Tesco have a time limit for delivery on foods etc, Mezerons boat had been loaded yesterday morning then had a 14hr sailing to the IOM, seeing as Tescos food is not the best for being fresh wonder what todays delivery is like, the milk could now be a bit cheesy

 

It is the year 2010. Have you not heard of chilled containers?

 

Chilled containers or not the big supermarket chains have strict delivery requirements, example on the Stobart documentary of last week TESCO refused to take delivery of fresh chickens at one of its stores due to delivery being 20 mins late

[Sean South]

That IMO is what happens when you create a public perception (correct or incorrect) that customers are not important.

When you have no real competition and you have a captive audience (customer wise) the customer doesn't matter - at least that what some people in business believe . On the other hand, when the customer realises this.... and a competitor comes along and satisfies them..... You're in trouble!

Edited November 8, 2010 by Sean South

[manshimajin]

When you have no real competition and you have a captive audience (customer wise) the customer doesn't matter - at least that what some people in business believe . On the other hand, when the customer realises this.... and a competitor comes along and satisfies them..... You're in trouble!

Too right! Wha's that old saying about being careful how you treat people on your way up because you never know who you will need on your way down!

 

It strikes me how little sympathy there is for MW and the IOMSPC even if it may mean problems for all of us in the future.

[metisse]

Im sure its been said a million times before but anyway, If the prices for vehicles and passengers do rise too much I just wont use the SP unless the trip was unavoidable.

 

I probably make around 12 trips per year at the moment although at peak times the prices can be a bit steep, on the whole im fairly happy with the service and price,

[Rab]

I remember Manx Telecom moaning when Sure started. Competition is good - Just compare your mobile bills to 5 years ago. A monopoly is never good for customers, or for the company, in the long run.

 

Competition is good. It is just up to the directors of the Steam Packet now to get off their complacent backsides, and do something that will fill the boats that they already have large loans on.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Rab

[thesultanofsheight]

Too right! Wha's that old saying about being careful how you treat people on your way up because you never know who you will need on your way down!

 

It strikes me how little sympathy there is for MW and the IOMSPC even if it may mean problems for all of us in the future.

 

Exactly

 

C

U

N

T

[Lost Login]

Competition is a good. It is just up to the directors of the Steam Packet now to get off their complacent backsides, and do something that will fill the boats that they already have large loans on.

 

Competition can be a good thing although there are plenty of examples that it is not the case. When they deregulated the buses and privatised the trains in the UK there were plenty of examples of competition not being a good thing and even to this day much of the UK in its transport structure does not have true free competition. The trains certainly do not with operators bidding for franchises, the bid being the lowest subsidy. In return for the franchise there are restrictions on price rises, set service standards and fines for not meeting them.

 

Maybe that model, which is not far off the user agreement model, is broke as well as many of the train operators are not popular in the UK.

 

Finally it is interesting to note that whilst this thread is about 20 pages long many continue to use this thread to just slag of the user agrrement, the Steam Packet, its owners, its management. See sultanofsheights last posting. Very few have any suggestions for how if we were to start from stratch we could have a place a system which controled prices and the level & number of services and possibly allowed even an element of competition.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Lost Login

[Monkey boy]

It's still a bloody disgrace, this is why we need a FOI act, now.

 

I thought a freedom of information act only applies to obtainig information from the Govt. Accordingly the SP is a private company so would be unaffected

It was my understanding that the proposed act has some scope for private companies as they do in some other places. I may be wrong though.

[Frances]

Very few have any suggestions for how if we were to start from stratch we could have a place a system which controled prices and the level & number of services and possibly allowed even an element of competition.

One possibilty raised much earlier is an Island based mutual (coop-like) that runs both freight + PAX services - the SP at one time did compete in the coastal shipping trade but pulled out relying on RoRo to handle all freight.

Total reliance on combined PAX + freight boats has shown itself to be troublesome - especialy now that chilled containers have removed the advantage of RoRo, thus I suspect any new entrant would also have to compete here.

[Andy730]

Nice to see Tesco's overnight delivery just arriving at the harbour. Would have been empty shelves in Tesco's today if it was up to the IOMSPC as they cancelled last nights sailing!!

 

Tesco have a time limit for delivery on foods etc, Mezerons boat had been loaded yesterday morning then had a 14hr sailing to the IOM, seeing as Tescos food is not the best for being fresh wonder what todays delivery is like, the milk could now be a bit cheesy

 

It is the year 2010. Have you not heard of chilled containers?

 

Chilled containers or not the big supermarket chains have strict delivery requirements, example on the Stobart documentary of last week TESCO refused to take delivery of fresh chickens at one of its stores due to delivery being 20 mins late

 

Quite true, but the one i saw like that was for a load of biscuits, and they where delivered later that day. The only reason the trailer was sent away was due to the size of the complex and the amount of delivery traffic there. A bit like air traffic control at an air port, they simply had no room for it to be delivered at that point in time... perhaps the same was true for the chickens? i didn't see that one..

Edited November 9, 2010 by Andy730

[gazza]

Just had some figures in from tescos.

and the loss to the SP from tescos alone is around the 4-6million a year in lost freight.

nearer the 6million

Edited November 9, 2010 by gazza

[acorn]

 

Finally it is interesting to note that whilst this thread is about 20 pages long many continue to use this thread to just slag of the user agrrement, the Steam Packet, its owners, its management. See sultanofsheights last posting. Very few have any suggestions for how if we were to start from stratch we could have a place a system which controled prices and the level & number of services and possibly allowed even an element of competition.

 

 

 

 

It's equally interesting to note your dogged support for the Steam Packet throughout the above mentioned 20 pages.

 

I don't have a clue who you are, or where your loyalties lie. I could make a few guesses though, I bet at least one of won't be far off the mark either.

[Nosferatu]

Ok here's my attempt to answer the OP about starting from scratch. If I somehow acquired a few hundred million to play with and decided to buy myself the racket , first thing I'd do is review the current vessels and decide on their suitability for the job in hand .

Ben My Chree , fairly reliable but is let down by it's dual purpose. If it was purely a freight boat then it would be adequate but it is hampered by the need to accomodate the pax whether it be the inability to sail in conditions that would be too uncomfortable for pax or the restrictions as to which sailings carry dangerous goods . Likewise as a pure pax boat it would be just about adequate as without the worry for cargo space there could be better pax facilities aboard . Personally I think the Ben is a very poor pax boat so I'd look at 2 options if I was the man in charge with the cheque book . Option 1 convert the Ben to a pure freight boat , this would probably be a bit pointless as the facilities for the pax are already in place and losing them wouldn't really do much to the freight capacity . Option 2 sell it . Approx value not sure but I'd guess at $8m +

Manannan , a diesel drinking monster that can't go in shit weather . Sell it . Approx value $15m (Prices based on those displayed HERE

Snaffle , nobody is going to be stupid enough to buy it , so again 2 options , keep it going til it dies or scrap it . I'd look at the cost of running and maintaining it and decide based on that .

Ok so now what , in theory I've sold 2 ships and possibly have the Snaffle still mooching about . I'd be looking to replace the Ben and the Manannan , so what with ?

A possible freight vessel !

It's RO-RO as well as LO-LO , therefore increasing the choice of ports that it can operate to and from . It's already registered here , the dimensions are similar to the Ben so there should be no problem with it fitting in Douglas harbour , likewise it has thrusters so manoeuverability is not an issue and only a couple of years older than the Ben . Just a pity the price isn't shown .

Ok now for the tricky part , by losing the Manannan and the Ben there is a potential 1400 pax shortfall to make up without compromising speed and comfort . Ideally a vessel that has a pax capacity of at least 1000 and a service speed of at least 17kn and not some ancient heap . A couple of potential vessels Here Once the ships have been sorted then onto the nitty gritty , where do the pax actually want to travel to and what would they consider to be a fair price ? Where would be the best freight port to operate from ? More to come when I can be arsed .

Edited November 9, 2010 by Nosferatu

[Guest]

I am guessing but it would appear that the strong North Easterly wind and associated sea state may have made Douglas harbour entry somewhat too difficult for Merezon this morning as Kurkse is currently sitting in Port Erin bay. Shame really as her sister ship did so well yesterday morning in much windier conditions, albeit Southerlies.

[Guest]

Reference my last post, there is a very low spring tide this morning at circa 0700hrs so maybe there is currently insufficient depth for Kurkse to come alongside in Douglas harbour.