Some mail boat operators claimed on Tuesday that most of the vessels in operation hardly make much profit on their current routes.
There are 20 contracted mail boats operating out of New Providence, connecting it with the other islands. One mail boat operates out of Grand Bahama, linking that island with Grand Cay.
The government is in the process of finding a firm to report to the Ministry of Transport and Aviation after conducting a review of the countryﾴs mail boat operations.
Authorities want the consulting firm to devise a plan on how subsidies should be calculated and to ascertain whether things are as bad as the operators say through an examination of the vesselsﾴ operating costs and income.
As the government contemplates the renewal of the Inter-Insular Mail Boat Contracts and considers whether to restructure existing routes and subsidies it provides to the operators, President of the Mail Boat Association Raphael Moxey said he awaits feedback from the government on his organizationﾴs proposal to improve services.
“We have a proposal before the government as we speak and our position has been put in that proposal. It wouldnﾴt be appropriate for me to go into the details at this pointﾅbut there needs to be an increase in fees,” he told The Bahama Journal on Tuesday.
“Governmentﾴs restructuring (of the mail boat service) could be a good thing. It could be a bad thing. We would have to see how the restructuring pans out and what effect it would have. Itﾴs something for discussion at a later date.”
He said that none of the routes is really profitable with some “more in the red” than others.
Mr. Moxey named the Exuma Cays and Ragged Island route as a “very tough one”, although he declined to explain further.
Meantime, Family Island administrators tell a different story, one that focuses more on the integral service being provided by mail boat operators.
“Mail boats represent the economic lifeline in the Family Islands because it is by sea that a lot of goods are moved into the islands and a lot more people are beginning to make use of the mail boat service,” said Revis Rolle, Abaco administrator.
Although he praised services to Marsh Harbour, Mr. Rolle recommended that operators utilize machinery to load and offload their vessels rather than human labour, which he believes is less efficient and more costly.
Cat Island Administrator Joseph Ferguson had one complaint.
“Our services could be better. We are not getting service in a timely manner like we did in the past. We have service once a week and itﾴs enough if they come every week, but once they start missing one or two weeks, perishable stuff donﾴt last that long,” Mr. Ferguson said.
He advised government officials to ensure that mail boat operators are not overcharging customers.
Inagua Administrator Joelton Johnson also pointed to the critical need for continued service to the southern Bahamas.
“We are the southern most island in The Bahamas and it takes a couple of days to get here and if the weather is bad then we get no service,” he explained. “In Inagua the only means of getting goods and building supplies in some instances is through the mail boat. Itﾴs an important link with the capital.”
Tosheena Robinson-Blair, The Bahama Journal
