When we left you yesterday - there was great promise in the cruise industry for boat tender operators. That's after the prime minister and his team worked out the "Carnival Compromise" in Miami. It was agreed that the local tender operators would be given some time to upgrade to larger vessels and, more importantly, that Carnival would do business directly with a new Belizean company that would be made up of all the current tender operators that wish to participate.
Sounded almost too good to be true - and at a meeting this morning - Carnival executives told the tender operators that, in fact, it wasn't true. That's right - according to sources in the meeting - they reneged on the commitments given to the PM and his team in Miami! Our sources tell us that the Carnival execs said that Rick O'Shea - the American who first gave Carnival the idea to replace and undersell their Belizean shipping agent, Eurocaribe - was still prominently in the picture. In fact, Carnival reportedly told the Tender operators that Rick O'Shea is the man and if they want in, well, they've got to deal with him.
That's a complete reversal of position - because it again puts the Belizean operators in a subordinate position. After the meeting Stanley Longsworth - the head of the Belizean Co-Op - downplayed the reversal - but made it clear that things had changed and not for the better.
Stanley Longsworth Sr., Head - Tender Operators Group
"The issues are very difficult and I think it will take some time to come to an agreement."
Jules Vasquez
"But the impression we got very distinctly from the PM yesterday is that the stage is set - you just have to go out there and perform. You are saying that the devil is in the details?"
Stanley Longsworth Sr., Head - Tender Operations Group
"Well I think what has happened is that the goalpost has been moved and so the game becomes longer."
Jules Vasquez
"You are saying the undertaking, the commitment they gave the Prime Minister has not been upheld in these meetings?"
Stanley Longsworth Sr., Head - Tender Operations Group
"As it is unfolding we are finding out that like I said people positions have moved and so it becomes more complex and certainly more difficult."
Isani cayetano, Reporter - Channel 5 News
"Mr. Longsworth, I was reliably informed earlier that Rick O'Shea's name was once again mentioned as the point man for this entire situation in terms of tendering. Can you speak to us in some detail on that?"
Stanley Longsworth Sr., Head - Tender Operations Group
"Since we are in negotiations I don't want to get into the specifics. So I would prefer not to respond to that question."
Jules Vasquez
"When you talk about goalposts moving, the principal issue is that Carnival will agree to do business with this newly formed company/group. Is that still achievable? Is that still on the table? Or is that what is moving?"
Stanley Longsworth Sr., Head - Tender Operations Group
"The goalpost has moved."
Jules Vasquez
"So but as far as you are concerned, right now the future of the boat tenders which we left there feeling yesterday has been somewhat secured at least in the immediate, to short term, you are saying that right now the conditions of those tender operators are still in peril?"
Stanley Longsworth Sr., Head - Tender Operations Group
"Jules I think that there is a lot on the table, there is a lot to be negotiated and the goalpost has moved so the immediate future is at this point in time uncertain."
After that meeting finished at 12:30, a furious flurry of calls was made to find out what had gone wrong and what would happen next. Those calls ended up at the Prime Minister's Office where he was still in Cabinet.
After that was finished at 2:30, he called the senior Vice President of Carnival, Ruben Rodriguez who he had met in Miami on Friday. After that the PM convened a late evening meeting with the tender operators to tell them what the deal was going forward.
We caught him 40 minutes ago, just before he went into that meeting at the BTB headquarters on Regent Street:
Jules Vasquez
"Mr. PM there was a meeting today and it seems that the skies opened up and serpents came writhing down in terms of everything have been reversed. What's the latest as you go into this meeting?"
PM Dean Barrow
"Well as I understand in the meeting this morning it appeared that Carnival was saying that the new company that it was agreed would be founded would have to have some participation from Rick O'Shea."
Jules Vasquez
"Which was not the deal in Miami."
PM Dean Barrow
"Not the deal in Miami. I called Mr. Ruben Rodriguez who was the team leader in Miami [Jules Vasquez - executive vice president] and he reaffirmed the position to me which is as I reported. Carnival will treat with the new cooperative entity we are putting together and there is no necessity for Mr. O'Shea to be a part of that entity."
Jules Vasquez
"And the same for Carnival, Norwegian, i know all of them have some kind of understanding with Mr. O'Shea."
PM Dean Barrow
"Well I didn't speak to Norwegian or to Royal, my understanding of what took place in the meeting this morning was that Royal's position has not changed which is that while Mr. O'Shea had made them a proposal, they did not have any signed agreement with Mr. O'Shea. The Carnival position in the meeting this morning was that they had in fact had a signed agreement with Mr. O'Shea and so they would not proceed except Mr. O'Shea would be involved with the Belizean entity. Mr. Rodriguez has reiterated to me, Carnival will proceed with the Belizean entity and there is no need for Mr. O'Shea to be a part of that entity. If the Belizean entity wants Mr. O'Shea to be a part, again, Mr. Rodriguez has no objection to that, he doesn't care one way or the other and he will proceed on the basis of the understanding that we reached in Miami."
Jules Vasquez
"I know you can't see into the hearts of men but if that is the case from the senior Vice President, why such duplicity at the meeting today?"
PM Dean Barrow
"I don't want to speculate but Mr. Rodriguez is a diplomat, he says perhaps there are nuances that might not have been accurately communicated or understood, he will sort it out with his man who is a Captain Tringali that was in the meeting this morning. When I spoke to him Tringali was in the air between Belize and Miami. He will call me back tomorrow to confirm that he has sorted it out with Captain Tringali, but he is the boss and he is telling me that it is his decision that stands."
So, bottom line? After all the back and forth, the position tonight - is the same as it was at this time last night: The Cruise Lines will deal with a new Belizean company that would be made up of all the current tender operators. We'll keep following it from there…
