Steam Packet response to Nautilus

Thu, 28 Sep 2023

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, Managing Director, Brian Thomson has released a statment and thanks the union for publicly stating their agreement with the Company and that there are no objections from their members to living on-board.

He added: "This is the one addition IOMSPC wish to make to its terms and conditions of employment. Agreement has already been reached with another union, whose members work in various roles and represent about 70% of the seagoing staff."

The statement from Thomson continues:

"I hope this means there is still an opportunity to resolve this discussion amicably. However, what we will not do is agree to preferential terms for the members of one union, over those of another who have already agreed and who are working hard on behalf of the Company, our customers and the Manx public. The offer that is on the table now is a strong one and reflects various compromises made by the Company in relation to its starting position. This includes the choice of week on/week off, or two weeks on/two weeks off working rotations, additional days leave and the additional bonus mentioned by Nautilus.

"The rationale for returning to a live on-board model is very clear: it allows the Company to offer improved services to all of our customers. While Ben-my-Chree has been a very reliable ship for the Company, it was a compromised design affording no space for crew accommodation. The current need to change crews in Douglas approximately every 12 hours means there is very little opportunity to adapt to weather conditions or other circumstances. This leads to avoidable cancellations and disruption for customers, occasionally resulting in the vessel sailing to Heysham and back without discharging passengers or freight.

"Manxman has already proven that live on-board crew provide greater flexibility and resilience. Today’s 02:15 sailing from Heysham is a prime example of this. Despite the cancellation of all sailings on Wednesday due to Storm Agnes, we were able to reposition Manxman to Heysham to ensure that the shelves remained stocked and goods continued to flow. This would not have been possible were it not a live on-board vessel.

"We, as a Company, are returning to our roots as we strive to serve the travelling public and the Isle of Man better. Before, Ben-my-Chree, every conventional Steam Packet Company vessel was live on-board."

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