Deepwater for Cruise Ships

[Andy Onchan]

I would be in favour of a proposition to develop a port/harbour to take larger vessels providing it was also in tandem with the opportunity to allow  'normal' size ROPAX vessels to operate. 

I agree that as a stand-alone project it would be hard to justify financially. 

[GD4ELI]

23 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

I would be in favour of a proposition to develop a port/harbour to take larger vessels providing it was also in tandem with the opportunity to allow  'normal' size ROPAX vessels to operate. 

I agree that as a stand-alone project it would be hard to justify financially. 

But with ROPAX there would be a reduced service - say three sailings a week? But bigger boats, better in storms, Stenna or something like that?

May actually be a half-way sensible suggestion.

[homarus]

5 hours ago, 2112 said:

Wise or unwise, I reckon that won’t stop them going ahead. Anything to maximise the VAT take, worry about the consequences later. 

It's not just unwise ,it's fucking dangerous and anybody from gov that puts their name to committing taxpayer monies into  this ill thought through folly  needs to be turfed out of government.

 

[2bees]

It's mad isn't it? I have spoken to a couple of people about this, one is all for the idea & the other knows about the sea  Like Homarus says, it's dangerous and folly.

[gettafa]

There's a few £millions worth of good quality imported stone at the end of the runway at Ronaldsway doing next to diddle squat. They could re-dump that at Port Erim Breakwater or BAck of Douglas Breakwater. Or just extend a wee bit more into the deep water and make a cruise ship berth.

Or invest in the most super dooper sea taxi to take the passengers to and fro. I often wonder about those enclosed life boats things. Bobbing about in Douglas Bay with those posh cruise liner passengers in.

Edited November 27, 2017 by gettafa

[b4mbi]

4 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

I would be in favour of a proposition to develop a port/harbour to take larger vessels providing it was also in tandem with the opportunity to allow  'normal' size ROPAX vessels to operate. 

That's the rub. It's not just about cruise.

It's about developing and expanding Douglas harbour to provide a deep water berth that

a)  provides the Island with resilience and options with respect to its lifeline sea services.

b) can accommodate larger ships of all types (tanker, cruise, Ro-Pax etc) than the current facilities

c) will give opportunities for development of other maritime economic activity (supply vessels for windfarms and their parts, gas field development equipment, layby berths, renewable energy)

 

Question that also should be asked is "who paid for Ross Klein's flights here?" or did the sociologist from Newfoundland come all the way to the Island from Canada at his own expense just because PAG invited him?

 

[P.K.]

I had to wait on pole position while they offloaded bikers interspersed with cruise ship yanks waddling across to get their tenders back.

The only visable purchase was one large green suitcase.

I would like to see the data that proves beyond doubt that this is a proper revenue stream and thus worth an investment to tap into.

[paswt]

28 minutes ago, b4mbi said:

That's the rub. It's not just about cruise.

It's about developing and expanding Douglas harbour to provide a deep water berth that

a)  provides the Island with resilience and options with respect to its lifeline sea services.

b) can accommodate larger ships of all types (tanker, cruise, Ro-Pax etc) than the current facilities

c) will give opportunities for development of other maritime economic activity (supply vessels for windfarms and their parts, gas field development equipment, layby berths, renewable energy)

 

Question that also should be asked is "who paid for Ross Klein's flights here?" or did the sociologist from Newfoundland come all the way to the Island from Canada at his own expense just because PAG invited him?

 

If it's such an excellent idea private investors will be falling over themselves to see this wonderful investment opportunity.

I have no idea who Ross Klein is or who paid for his visit but you can bet your ******* that the consultants  recommending  this enterprise won't be doing it for nothing, however I stand to be corrected if you have evidence to the contrary.

Just saying

[woody2]

the £50m has to be spent somehow.......

[b4mbi]

8 minutes ago, paswt said:

If it's such an excellent idea private investors will be falling over themselves to see this wonderful investment opportunity.

I have no idea who Ross Klein is or who paid for his visit but you can bet your ******* that the consultants  recommending  this enterprise won't be doing it for nothing, however I stand to be corrected if you have evidence to the contrary.

Just saying

Dr Ross Klein is the Cruise Junkie - a critic of the cruise industry and the guy who PAG have invited over to the Island for a speech this evening 7.30pm at the Manx Legion Club, Douglas - free entrance and open to anyone interested...

It's no secret Deloitte's were commissioned by DED to do a report on the potential of the Cruise Industry for the Island, and clearly they didn't do that for free, the findings of that report have yet to be released.

To expect a private investor to fully fund the expansion of Douglas Port would mean that the private operator would want control of the revenues and operations for the entire port. I seriously doubt that it's in IOMG interests to sell/give up the operational responsibility for the port, so there has to be some element of Government/ hence taxpayer involvement.

This is 100 year lifetime infrastructure project we are talking about, providing options & resilience into the future.

[woody2]

more like paying for it for the next 100 years.....

[woody2]

deloitte's was the company behind pfi that made £100's millions, the same company now advising to buy them all back......

[dilligaf]

3 hours ago, b4mbi said:

That's the rub. It's not just about cruise.

It's about developing and expanding Douglas harbour to provide a deep water berth that

a)  provides the Island with resilience and options with respect to its lifeline sea services.

b) can accommodate larger ships of all types (tanker, cruise, Ro-Pax etc) than the current facilities

c) will give opportunities for development of other maritime economic activity (supply vessels for windfarms and their parts, gas field development equipment, layby berths, renewable energy)

 

Question that also should be asked is "who paid for Ross Klein's flights here?" or did the sociologist from Newfoundland come all the way to the Island from Canada at his own expense just because PAG invited him?

 

So these opportunities will mean shipping over all these supplies and parts to support wind farms and rigs etc then loading the gear back onto other ships to do the supplying.

Yes, that makes good sense. 

[woody2]

11 minutes ago, dilligaf said:

So these opportunities will mean shipping over all these supplies and parts to support wind farms and rigs etc then loading the gear back onto other ships to do the supplying.

Yes, that makes good sense. 

the supply ships go straight to site, no need to unload and reload......

[dilligaf]

Just now, woody2 said:

the supply ships go straight to site, no need to unload and reload......

Then why would they come here ? We don't make the spare parts or the supplies unless B4mbi means a bit of Manx cheese and butter or some Scandinavian Manx kippers.