We will try to keep up service says SPC

STEAM Packet bosses have vowed to do their utmost to maintain the frequency of services in the face of lift-on lift off cargo competition.

The company says the user agreement means it is at a disadvantage if it competes with an operator that can ‘pick and choose’ the profitable business but is under no obligation to operate less profitable services.

Steam Packet chairman Robert Quayle said:

‘Sadly, if the User Agreement is undermined by the intervention of an unregulated operator which is subject to none of the obligations which we willingly undertake, the range of services offered by the Steam Packet Company may be unsustainable in their present form.

‘However, we wish to reassure passengers, freight customers and island residents in general that the company will be doing its utmost to prevent any reduction in quality or quantity in its services; and that we will work closely with our passengers, freight customers and Government, in order to overcome these latest challenges.

Unions Unite, the RMT and Nautilus will be handing out leaflets to customers outside Douglas’s Tesco store on Saturday warning that ‘unfair’ ferry cargo competition will lead to a serious situation .

Unite’s Steve Salter said:

‘We’re not saying shoppers should boycott Tesco and Shoprite. But we are pointing out that Manx jobs could go and sailings reduced. Savings won’t be passed onto shoppers – they won’t see prices coming down on the supermarket shelves.

Earlier this week the Steam Packet’s chief executive, Mark Woodward, said:

‘This is about the survival of [the] company.


Direct copy from the IOMonline Website