Ports accuses the Chamber of carrying out a "campaign of discredit" lacking "rigor"

The Port Authority of Las Palmas has come out to deny the latest criticism launched this week by the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote, and has done so by accusing the chamber body of carrying out "a campaign of discredit" of this institution, "even at the expense of reality, in a captious and irresponsible manner." This is how it responded to the complaint from the Chamber, which accused Ports of not having notified the cancellation of a cruise that was scheduled to stop in Lanzarote. In a statement, the Chamber stated that Ports had known this information for a month, despite which it had not passed on the information, causing "damage" to companies and operators who were expecting that arrival. 

"The information provided by the Chamber of Commerce lacks veracity, rigor and foundation," argues the Port Authority, which assures that "it is not true that it had knowledge of this cancellation a month ago and that it did not pass it on to the affected party." It even states that "it has no reason to be and it is absurd for someone to say otherwise, as has been done."

The Boudicca cruise ship, with 500 passengers, was due to arrive in Lanzarote on August 6, and the Port Authority assures that "it was not informed" that the stopover had been canceled. "It was the mooring service of the Port of Arrecife who, on August 3, three days before the scheduled date for mooring, contacted the shipping agent, surprised at not having received the electronic DUE (single stopover document) notice within the established deadlines," explains Ports. According to them, this call "translates into diligence on our part and after which we proceed to act in accordance with the usual communication mechanisms."

On the other hand, it points out that Fred Olsen makes the necessary contracts for this stopover with the tour operator Iberoservice, the one designated by the shipping company to provide services throughout the Canary Islands, who, it assures, "were aware of the cancellation of the Boudicca and, therefore, did not hire buses, guides, or any tourist service used by the ships." "So it is also not true that there was any problem in this regard," adds the Port Authority.

The "same" information process for "all" ports

Despite denying the Chamber's accusations and asserting that it has not received any complaints about what happened, Ports apologizes in its statement. "However, we regret any damage that may have been caused to third parties and reiterate our willingness to address any claims that may arise from this event and that, to date, we have not received."

"It is also not true that there is misinformation from this Port Authority to its ports regarding the forecast of ships, and it is very serious that there are those who are capable of affirming it and saying that only the information from the Port of Las Palmas is updated and not that of Arrecife," the statement continues. The Port Authority affirms in this sense that the procedure and the computer system is "the same for all our ports." "It is enough to carry out the verification through our website, in which the forecast of ships appears in a joint document that collects data from the ships of the Port Authority, not separated by each port."

The note concludes by regretting this "campaign of discredit" and stating that "the tourist image of our ports suffers with this type of dispute that hardly obeys the general interest and that, again, demonstrates the limited willingness of those who carry them out to favor relations of cordiality and respect between institutions, so necessary to continue improving and growing in the cruise sector."