Shipping services: interest is genuine

Companies express interest in running Island shipping service

Ongoing uncertainty over the long-term future of the user agreement is not preventing companies from expressing interest in running shipping services to and from the Island.

That’s the view of the Minister for Infrastructure whose department is continuing to assess potential new operators of both passenger and freight services.

A £15 million scheme is currently needed to replace the Liverpool landing stage, while the user agreement with the Steam Packet runs out in 2020, although both parties have an option to extend until 2026.

Despite these issues, Phil Gawne believes operators would genuinely bid should services ultimately go out to tender.