So, if the Steam Packet said "sod the user agreement, we're going to up our passenger fares and kill off all sailings to Ireland and all the Liverpool winter sailings" for example, what would actually happen?
The Isle of Man Government could take the company to court but what would that achieve?
If Mark Woodward is telling the truth the SPC would be able to prove that operating such a high level of service was no longer profitable.
If the Isle of Man Government were then to say - backed by a court - "do it anyway under the terms of the agreement", the company would go bust and nobody would be any better off. Macquarie could then sell off the saleable assets (the Manannan, the Ben and any real estate) and pack up, or it could do another 'deal' with the government, in which we'd still end up with a worse level of service.
Either way, the government doesn't have a trump card here. It just shows how little value the user agreement ever had for the Manx government and taxpayer.
