woolley Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 There really should not be a need to continually bodge up a 'lame duck'. There is some truth in that, but an extension to the user agreement should sort that out. Doing away with the monopoly that the ferry company is exploiting and has been for far too long would allow things to be sorted out. Markets should determine how businesses are run, not monopolies. Clearly you don't remember Steam Packet v Manx Line then. The only thing wrong with the user agreement was the slack wording therein that allowed the agreement to be used by some sharp suits to artificially inflate the value of the company in the interests of their own greed. Any new agreement should have a government right of veto over a change of ownership or failing that the annulment of the agreement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 One freight sailing a day and one passenger sailing every 2 days would be nearer the mar so how would they do a 5-day return ? Ha ! people have to travel on certain days for numerous specific reasons (catch flights, attend functions, collect/deliver goods/people etc) - in your plan who would choose the days ? If it's going every day with freight, it may as well take pax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trmpton Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 One freight sailing a day and one passenger sailing every 2 days would be nearer the mar so how would they do a 5-day return ? Ha ! people have to travel on certain days for numerous specific reasons (catch flights, attend functions, collect/deliver goods/people etc) - in your plan who would choose the days ? If it's going every day with freight, it may as well take pax Why would they do a five day return? In a world where they could run it as a business instead of being dicated to by the user agreement (which is for their benefit apparently. ) they would run boats at times that made them money. They wouldn't care when people have to travel, and that is why the user agreement is there. People who bleat about the user agreement and the money the steam packet make don't have a clue. Incidentally, I spent over 10k on personal and business sailings Inthe last 6 months. I would love to spend less, but then there wouldn't be anyone running the route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 The UA imposes a monopoly. Monopolies always operate to the disadvantage of the market. If once the UA proved to be other than a VERY short term drawback to the monopoly holder the monopoly holder would be off faster than a scalded cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzzi Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 trmpton the point is that running ships at times that will make them money will co-incide with demand. I am not against a monopoly, so long as that monopoly is periodically subject to fair and open competition, and not just handed automatically to the current holder. The small size of the sea market makes direct competition problematic. At the moment, we can all sleep in our beds during the long winter nights knowing that there is a ferry running if we had needed it. At least there usually is, excluding fishing gear, weather, bow thrusters, steering gear etc. It's the freight that keeps that going, obviously. I think that if we gave interested parties enough freedom to tailor services closely to demand, we would get a better deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 One freight sailing a day and one passenger sailing every 2 days would be nearer the marso how would they do a 5-day return ? Ha ! people have to travel on certain days for numerous specific reasons (catch flights, attend functions, collect/deliver goods/people etc) - in your plan who would choose the days ? If it's going every day with freight, it may as well take pax Why would they do a five day return? In a world where they could run it as a business instead of being dicated to by the user agreement (which is for their benefit apparently. ) they would run boats at times that made them money. They wouldn't care when people have to travel, and that is why the user agreement is there. People who bleat about the user agreement and the money the steam packet make don't have a clue. Incidentally, I spent over 10k on personal and business sailings Inthe last 6 months. I would love to spend less, but then there wouldn't be anyone running the route. you miss the point, if they are sailing with freight every day, they save very little by not taking pax on some days, just infuriate potential travellers (a day trip would then take 4 days rather than 3) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trmpton Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 One freight sailing a day and one passenger sailing every 2 days would be nearer the marso how would they do a 5-day return ? Ha ! people have to travel on certain days for numerous specific reasons (catch flights, attend functions, collect/deliver goods/people etc) - in your plan who would choose the days ? If it's going every day with freight, it may as well take pax Why would they do a five day return? In a world where they could run it as a business instead of being dicated to by the user agreement (which is for their benefit apparently. ) they would run boats at times that made them money. They wouldn't care when people have to travel, and that is why the user agreement is there. People who bleat about the user agreement and the money the steam packet make don't have a clue. Incidentally, I spent over 10k on personal and business sailings Inthe last 6 months. I would love to spend less, but then there wouldn't be anyone running the route. you miss the point, if they are sailing with freight every day, they save very little by not taking pax on some days, just infuriate potential travellers (a day trip would then take 4 days rather than 3) You are assuming they would still sail with freight every day. They wouldn't loose any trade by doing every other day, would save money, and people and businesses would just adapt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzzi Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I don't think an every other day freight service would be acceptable to retailers. There are quite a few refrigerated trailers, and those M&S sandwiches have limited shelf life. Everything depends on goods flowing smoothly from distribution centres in England to stores, there probably just isn't capacity to handle the 'peaks'. I think that freight is much more critical than passenger, but if you free it from the constraints of shipping on shared passenger/freight ferries it ought to be straightforward to provide freight only service, just as the IoMSP does now at peak times. You could then have a dedicated passenger/car ferry replacing the Manannan with a conventional ship, but operating at rather higher speeds than the sluggardly Ben My Chree. A reduced frequency during the winter would just require a bit more planning. Not a major problem, at least as far as I can see, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x-in-man Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 BMC delayed intro Heysham due to un -forecast high winds. Wrong kind of wind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempus Fugit Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Isle of Man Steam Packet Company 58 mins · The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company can confirm that during the 08.45 crossing from Douglas to Heysham a suspected chimney stack lagging fire was detected. Steam Packet Company engineers have contained the situation and have completed initial investigations. The engineers have allowed the vessel to continue with her journey to Heysham. No passengers or crew have been injured, and there is no significant damage to the vessel. The Captain ensured that passengers on board were kept informed throughout the incident. The expected arrival time is 13.00 and it is anticipated that Ben-my-Chree will return as scheduled. All relevant authorities have been informed. Further updates will be provided if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahc Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 What next? They seem to be cursed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far_north Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Isle of Man Steam Packet Company 58 mins · The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company can confirm that during the 08.45 crossing from Douglas to Heysham a suspected chimney stack lagging fire was detected. Steam Packet Company engineers have contained the situation and have completed initial investigations. The engineers have allowed the vessel to continue with her journey to Heysham. No passengers or crew have been injured, and there is no significant damage to the vessel. The Captain ensured that passengers on board were kept informed throughout the incident. The expected arrival time is 13.00 and it is anticipated that Ben-my-Chree will return as scheduled. All relevant authorities have been informed. Further updates will be provided if necessary. Chimney?????? Engines (main/generators) exhaust through the funnel! and galleys have flues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x-in-man Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 No, it's a chimney. Although the term funnel can be used in this report correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piebaps Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) Surely it's a chimley Edited May 16, 2015 by piebaps 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paswt Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 ask Alex? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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