Pleite
Sri Lanka Aggressor
2 Tage vor Abflug nach Sri Lanka kam die Absage für meine Tour am 24.12., (s.u.) angeblich musste das Boot in die Werft. In Colombo hörte ich dann, denen fehlte noch ein wichtiges behördliches Dokument (permit) für die Tour, es war nicht die erste Absage (s.u.). Ich finde das ist eine Schande für Aggressor. Für mich hieß es, verzweifelt eine Alternative für die gebuchte 2. Woche zu finden, was so schnell und kurzfristig sehr schwer war, brauchte einen halben Tag am PC und Telefonate nach Sri Lanka, um das hinzukriegen.
The yacht owners notified us this morning that it is necessary to cancel and reschedule your vacation on the Sri Lanka Aggressor due to yacht maintenance. We sincerely apologize for the short notice and know how important your vacation is to you. We are offering each guest a $500 voucher which can be used on any yacht, good for two years, plus the yacht owners will refund any airline change fees (we will need a copy of the change fee and how you would like to be refunded).
If you choose to book on another Aggressor Fleet yacht, we can assist you with that and you may use the $500 voucher towards the charter price and we will move your charter funds. (you would be responsible for new air). If you do not want to reschedule a charter, we will refund your charter funds already paid.
Your point of contact is Andrew Rachlin to reschedule another date on the Sri Lanka Aggressor and Safari Lodge, to book another Aggressor yacht or to cancel and get a refund. His contact information is listed below.
Again, we are extremely apologetic to disrupt your vacation plans.
Sincerely,
Aggressor Fleet Management
The following is an article that appeared in the September 24, 2016 The Colombo Page, a Sri Lanka on line newspaper.
Merchant Shipping sinks new Sri Lankan luxury yacht fleet even before it sails
Sat, Sep 24, 2016, 11:14 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 24, Colombo: TVB Group in a press release announced that there is a delay in the launch of their new 'Aggressor' branded Super Luxury Liveaboard Yacht in Sri Lanka.
The Yacht operations were scheduled to commence on 3rd September 2016 with the launch of its first weekly liveaboard charter. At least 7 weeks of charters have now been cancelled and the whole development is now in jeopardy as the yacht lays idle in the Colombo harbor.
TVB Group apologized to their international guests booked on the first 7 Sri Lankan Aggressor charters and Aggressor safari lodge trips which have now been cancelled costing Aggressor Fleet, the local management company, local Helitour charter airlines, local 5 Star hotels and the island of Sri Lanka an estimated $700,000 in foreign currency to date.
The delays and cancelations revolve around the Secretariat of Merchant Shipping wanting all commercial yachts that want to operate in Sri Lanka to hold an IACS classification, TVB Group said.
The problem is none of the 1000 yachts operating in the Red Sea in Egypt or the 430 yachts operating in the Maldives or the 500+ yachts in Thailand are ever built to IACS classification. So indirectly the DG of Merchant Shipping is asking for something that no other commercial yachting tourism national asks for and dooming any new fleet development before one yacht can start to operate.
TVB Group and its local representative Intrepid Development Company wants to thank the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, the Ministry of Defense, Sri Lanka Customs Department, The Immigration Department and Wildlife & Conservation Department for their support of the Development until it came to a grinding halt with the Secretariat of Merchant Shipping.
The Sri Lankan Aggressor Yacht named after the Island, is just the first of what could have been a 50 yacht fleet established in Sri Lanka over the next 5 to 10 years by local Sri Lankan businessmen similar to the tourist fleets in Egypt, the Maldives and Thailand, that could generate up to 500,000 new hotel room nights, 100's of domestic charter flights, over half a billion dollars in new tourism revenues per annum and thousands of new tourism related jobs for Sri Lanka.
TVB Group is continuing to work with their local Representatives, lawyers and the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority to find a solution, in the hopes that more weeks will not have to be cancelled, disappointing 1000's more international tourists over the next 3 years that could lose their planned vacations and costing Sri Lanka valuable tourism revenue and the launch of this new Super Yacht Tourism business sector for the island.
2 Tage vor Abflug nach Sri Lanka kam die Absage für meine Tour am 24.12., (s.u.) angeblich musste das Boot in die Werft. In Colombo hörte ich dann, denen fehlte noch ein wichtiges behördliches Dokument (permit) für die Tour, es war nicht die erste Absage (s.u.). Ich finde das ist eine Schande für Aggressor. Für mich hieß es, verzweifelt eine Alternative für die gebuchte 2. Woche zu finden, was so schnell und kurzfristig sehr schwer war, brauchte einen halben Tag am PC und Telefonate nach Sri Lanka, um das hinzukriegen.
The yacht owners notified us this morning that it is necessary to cancel and reschedule your vacation on the Sri Lanka Aggressor due to yacht maintenance. We sincerely apologize for the short notice and know how important your vacation is to you. We are offering each guest a $500 voucher which can be used on any yacht, good for two years, plus the yacht owners will refund any airline change fees (we will need a copy of the change fee and how you would like to be refunded).
If you choose to book on another Aggressor Fleet yacht, we can assist you with that and you may use the $500 voucher towards the charter price and we will move your charter funds. (you would be responsible for new air). If you do not want to reschedule a charter, we will refund your charter funds already paid.
Your point of contact is Andrew Rachlin to reschedule another date on the Sri Lanka Aggressor and Safari Lodge, to book another Aggressor yacht or to cancel and get a refund. His contact information is listed below.
Again, we are extremely apologetic to disrupt your vacation plans.
Sincerely,
Aggressor Fleet Management
The following is an article that appeared in the September 24, 2016 The Colombo Page, a Sri Lanka on line newspaper.
Merchant Shipping sinks new Sri Lankan luxury yacht fleet even before it sails
Sat, Sep 24, 2016, 11:14 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Sept 24, Colombo: TVB Group in a press release announced that there is a delay in the launch of their new 'Aggressor' branded Super Luxury Liveaboard Yacht in Sri Lanka.
The Yacht operations were scheduled to commence on 3rd September 2016 with the launch of its first weekly liveaboard charter. At least 7 weeks of charters have now been cancelled and the whole development is now in jeopardy as the yacht lays idle in the Colombo harbor.
TVB Group apologized to their international guests booked on the first 7 Sri Lankan Aggressor charters and Aggressor safari lodge trips which have now been cancelled costing Aggressor Fleet, the local management company, local Helitour charter airlines, local 5 Star hotels and the island of Sri Lanka an estimated $700,000 in foreign currency to date.
The delays and cancelations revolve around the Secretariat of Merchant Shipping wanting all commercial yachts that want to operate in Sri Lanka to hold an IACS classification, TVB Group said.
The problem is none of the 1000 yachts operating in the Red Sea in Egypt or the 430 yachts operating in the Maldives or the 500+ yachts in Thailand are ever built to IACS classification. So indirectly the DG of Merchant Shipping is asking for something that no other commercial yachting tourism national asks for and dooming any new fleet development before one yacht can start to operate.
TVB Group and its local representative Intrepid Development Company wants to thank the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, the Ministry of Defense, Sri Lanka Customs Department, The Immigration Department and Wildlife & Conservation Department for their support of the Development until it came to a grinding halt with the Secretariat of Merchant Shipping.
The Sri Lankan Aggressor Yacht named after the Island, is just the first of what could have been a 50 yacht fleet established in Sri Lanka over the next 5 to 10 years by local Sri Lankan businessmen similar to the tourist fleets in Egypt, the Maldives and Thailand, that could generate up to 500,000 new hotel room nights, 100's of domestic charter flights, over half a billion dollars in new tourism revenues per annum and thousands of new tourism related jobs for Sri Lanka.
TVB Group is continuing to work with their local Representatives, lawyers and the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority to find a solution, in the hopes that more weeks will not have to be cancelled, disappointing 1000's more international tourists over the next 3 years that could lose their planned vacations and costing Sri Lanka valuable tourism revenue and the launch of this new Super Yacht Tourism business sector for the island.