CONCERNS were raised in Tynwald that further disruption to ferry services due to winter storms could result in lost manufacturing orders.
Economic Development Minister John Shimmin revealed that of the 44 cancelled sailings in the past three months, 31 were cancelled due to the severity of the wind and sea conditions, while a further 13 sailings were lost because the absence of a bow thruster on the Ben-my-Chree made manoeuvring too difficult.
Replying to a question from Kate Beecroft MHK (Lib Van, Douglas South), the minister said he believed the Steam Packet Company had done the best it could to maintain supplies in ‘extremely rare and challenging sea conditions’.
He said records had shown that December 2011 had been the windiest December since the Second World War, with only two days having wind speeds of less than 10 knots.
The direction of the wind also made access to Heysham harbour particularly difficult – a factor that highlighted the absence of the second bow thruster which has now been replaced.
The minister said it was still a little early to fully understand the true extent of the impact on the economy of the recent problems with cancelled sailings. But said there was evidence to suggest that in some cases businesses continue to be affected as services return to more usual delivery standards.
He said the island’s manufacturing sector had been particularly affected.
‘There are examples of raw materials being delayed and held at dockside with food deliveries given the priority. The real concern is – and this will play out over the next weeks and months – that the delays have been noticed by key customers. The concern is, if further protracted delays returned, that this would impact on relationships between the island’s manufacturing businesses and customers, resulting in future orders being placed elsewhere off-island.’
Mr Shimmin said the majority of retailers in the island had been affected by the cancelled sailings with lost sales and increased costs – and it was estimated additional costs to some may have been ‘quite considerable’.
But he pointed out the majority of the island’s economy was service-based and so completely unaffected by the cancellation of ferry services.
Mr Shimmin said: ‘I believe it is a requirement that government assesses the overall current and future effectiveness of the ferry operation in order to ensure the cost of doing business on the island is not negatively impacted upon.
‘To this end, I will be working with my colleagues in the Department of Infrastructure and other relevant agencies to ensure all options to mitigate costs to businesses and to our visitor economy are explored.’
He said his department had carried out an initial review of the user agreement and the pre-Christmas difficulties and arrangements were being made with Steam Packet to look ‘in more detail at these matters’. Any amendment to the user agreement would be subject to Tynwald debate, he added.
Bill Henderson (Douglas North) said contingency plans should be put in place.
Mr Shimmin said Mr Henderson’s much-publicised comments about the situation having been a ‘crisis’ had been ‘somewhat of an exaggeration’. But he said he shared his concerns.
‘Certainly, this has brought into clear focus some of the issues which have been discussed for many years and we need a major impetus from both the company and the government to make sure that the long-term future of the Isle of Man is secured,’ he added.
The minister categorically denied that any government money had been used to replace the bow thruster on the Ben-my-Chree.