Henry Porretto to Publicly Air Concerns on Fog Delays

(Newswire.net — August 8, 2017) –Henry Porretto, who is currently serving as Pilot Board Commissioner, seeks to publicly air the major concerns surrounding cruise ship delays caused by fog. Thick fog has recently been delaying a lot of cruise ships coming and going from Port Galveston, causing all sorts of problems in the cruise ship industry.

Despite the growing concern over the delays, however, no one has bothered to publicly talk about it. The reluctance to openly talk about it seems to stem from the idea that the problem is rather far-fetched. Moreover, there is an obvious lack of support for the alleviation of the problem. Porretto believes that the first step to solving the problem is to openly talk about it in public—not only to increase awareness, but also to gather ideas and brainstorm potential solutions to get rid of the annoying delays. To learn more aobut Henry, visit https://www.crunchbase.com/person/henry-porretto.

According to a recent report, there is “growing dissatisfaction and concern” in the cruise ship industry that the pilots “are being overly cautious during fog season.” Going deeper, however, it seems the root of the issue may not actually be the fog itself. Cruise line officials have claimed that the delays are a retaliatory act by port pilots. They are reportedly retaliating after the cruise line objected to the three-year increase of 30% in tariff rates that the port pilots charge for their services. The original request of three years and 30% had been negotiated down to one year and 16%.

At this point, much of the story is all conspiracy theory, but there are enough objective facts to require a public vetting. Based on insider claims, cruise lines are clearly unhappy with the service they have been receiving from the pilots. They have organized a meeting about the fog delays with port leaders, and said meeting has reportedly been attended by CEOs of various cruise ship lines.

Aside from these issues, there is additional evidence of other problems involving the concerned parties that are not stated publicly. An example would be the appearance of several federally licensed port pilots who are seeking state licenses. This is said to be an attempt to break the association, which is a state-sanctioned monopoly.

Clearly, there is a lot of stake involving the cruise business, which is a major line for the Port of Galveston. For the fiscal year of 2017, the budget anticipates around 62% of $38.6 million in revenues, which are all cruise-related. Understanding the severity of the situation, Porretto, along with Wharves Board Chairman Ted O’Rourke, will now be taking huge steps in voicing out these concerns in public. Discover more by visiting https://vimeo.com/henryporretto.