Cruise ship association censures its president

The controversy over the introduction of larger tenders to better serve the cruise ship industry is back in the news. Having incited boat owners and taxi drivers to block David Gegg’s attempt to bring in some big Catamarans, Tom Greenwood, President of the Belize Cruise Ship Industry Association, now finds himself on the receiving end of a popular revolt. In a press release today the board of directors of the B.C.I.A. announced that it had passed a unanimous vote of no confidence in Greenwood and was removing him as head of the organisation. The reason given was Greenwood’s alleged repeated ignoring of board directives and his taking of unilateral actions without board approval. The controversy involves Gegg’s attempts to introduce larger boats into the tendering runs. These imported vessels, favoured by the cruise lines, have greater capacity and offer improved stability and safety to passengers who often must board in rough seas. Greenwood, claiming to represent dozens of existing tender owners, has argued that the move to larger boats will cause financial hardship to the smaller operators. The obvious answer to this problem is for the little guys–who are actually not so little–to pool resources to provide the kind of service that the industry will increasingly demand. Unfortunately, that kind of leadership is not always easy to find.