Mayor Tom Rose is hoping another meeting with representatives of the Atlantic Pilotage Association can be arranged by Gudie Hutchings, MP for Long Range Mountains.
He was disappointed that at a recent meeting arranged at the Port of Stephenville, which he couldn’t stay at due to a medical appointment, the representatives from the Atlantic Pilotage Association walked out.
Rose said that meeting was attended by representatives of the Port of Stephenville, Michelle Felix of Gudie Hutchings office, a representative of Montship and several others.
Now the mayor wants the Atlantic Pilotage Association representatives to come back and meet with the Stephenville town council in council chambers to discuss the issue of why that organization has made it mandatory for certain ships to require a second tug for docking.
“We (council) need to know if there is policy, regulations and authority for the Atlantic Pilotage Association to be adding extra costs and resources to allow vessel traffic to enter our Port of Stephenville,” he said.
Rose is wondering why this association is pushing these extra regulations on the Port of Stephenville, which he said is a Transport Canada certified port that is sheltered and has handled large ships for many years.
He said these new stipulations are having negative impacts on the port and some of the businesses that use the docking facilities.
“We want to ensure that we, as a council, fight for the best interests of our port. If they (representatives for Atlantic Pilotage Association) can show us (council) good reasons for the change, then they better produce some documents signed off by Transport Canada,” Rose said.
