Caribbean Travel Movement (CTM) has sought to “clarify” a situation that had emerged after it announced on Thursday a weekly ferry service between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia.
The company told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) earlier this week that the Kingstown-based ferry company would provide the service between the two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.
But on Friday, a person, claiming to be an employee of Bequia Express contacted CMC demanding that the photo of the company’s ferries be removed from the article.
CTM has since issued a statement offering a “clarification” saying it has been “in discussion with Bequia Express and a few other service providers for the chartered service early next year”.
CTM, which claimed to have been established in 2015, said on Friday that from initial discussions and date confirmations by Bequia Express, “the response was in the affirmative, hence why we mentioned their vessel would be doing the chartered run”.
CTM said that it confirmed with a named representative of the company “that it is fine for us to run the ads, showcasing the vessel so customers would know which vessel upfront.
“We are still in preparation mode and put the release out as a feeler for interested persons from the general public as our trips are primarily private.
“We were not aware that we would need additional documents etc., by the government or any other party if the trips were to be on a weekly schedule. Even calls to both governments this morning confirmed that at present, we do not need additional documents,” CTM said.
It said the “misstep” was that “we have not confirmed arrangements with the company’s local agent in St. Vincent as we have been waiting for a response from them for over a week now.
“Herein lies the problem and miscommunication with the local agent confirming that she did advise Bequia Express to disassociate with us on the premise that we did not wait for her response,” CTM said in its statement.
CTM said its press release “did not mention Bequia Express specifically as we plan to use different vessels for our trips, more so because Bequia Express cannot be available to us for all the dates we require.
“Additionally, some of the ferry trips will also be cargo only, and we are already aware of the relevant documents needed as we currently do ship cargo between the islands.”
It did not name a replacement company in its latest press release on Friday.
“It is unfortunate the company chose to reach out to the media before seeking clarification from us. We would have explained that it was miscommunication somewhere along the line and worked at fixing the issue right away, to avoid the crisis unfolding now. The same way in which both Bequia Express and Caribbean Travel Movement sorted out a similar issue about a week ago.
CARICOM countries have been seeking to improve sea and air transportation in the region following the collapse of the inter-regional airline, LIAT, more than two years ago.
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