Cat Cocos aims to maintain standard, customer care and security |03 March 2017

Cat Cocos of the Inter Island Boats Limited has said its priority is to maintain a high standard, good customer care and to ferry its about 2000 per day passengers in security.

According to the owners, Cat Cocos offers a reliable ferry service between Mahé, Praslin and La Digue, listens to its clientele and has a very good future which should be maintained.

The company has a 97% Seychellois workforce and carries the slogan ‘Proudly Seychellois’.

And regarding complaints on social media from certain members of the public, the management of Cat Cocos has said the company offers the best ferry service in the whole of the western Indian Ocean which is not seen in either Madagascar, Reunion, Mauritius, Mozambiqiue, Tanzania, Kenya, Mayotte, Sri Lankan, India. This was revealed in a interview with Joe Albert and his management team of Inter Island Boats Limited at their office at Espace building. The team was shedding some light on what Cat Cocos is all about, services and incentives offered and answering some criticisms generally from social media.

“There was a time in the ferry services between the islands cows, pigs, goats, copra, charcoal were all together on a boat. When they get wet an undescribable smell emanated. Slowly by surely Cat Cocos has brought about a new kind of service that is the best in South West Indian Ocean,” Mr Albert explained.

He said yes, it happens sometimes due to bad weather, when it rains or the sea is a bit rough, of course some rain gets inside the boat due to a tear somewhere in the plastic windows caused by strong winds. But Mr Albert does not see it as a realistic reason for some to cry foul.

He however pointed out some incidents like drunkards on board who break bottles or people who vandalise amenities like seats, saying that measures are being put in place to deal with such people.

“It is true there are people saying this and that about the boat, but it is all perceptions. Do whatever you want, get whatever new things, there is always a minority group who will always criticise anything when they are drunk and conduct themselves like uneducated people. This is a very sad thing,” said Mr Albert.

He said all these Cat Cocos catamarans are new, are of the highest standard possible and cost a lot. “We normally have to repay the loans in 5 to 6 years. Cat Cocos is the cheapest public transport in Seychelles,” he said.

He came to that conclusion after the result of a study conducted where a taxi was found to cost R40 per kilometre, SPTC about R4.50 a kilometre (but the company is subsidised by the state), while Cat Cocos is R4.20 a kilometre and it includes luggage.

“Before we cry out we must compare,” he said.

To better clarify his theory, he cited an example of a taxi from the Praslin jetty at Baie Ste Anne to Côte d’Or charging R400 or even more whereas a Seychellois travelling from Mahé to Praslin or vice versa on board Cat Cocos pays R420.

He noted that Cat Cocos has improved its boarding procedure since 2015 with a type of boarding pass that can be directly scanned and is more convenient than the tearing of tickets. It launched its website in 2016 where passengers can book their tickets online.

“We have noted not many Seychellois are doing online booking. It’s mainly foreigners. It seems the locals have not yet received the right information in this regard,” said Sylvie Fournier, one of the patrons.

She maintained booking online is less expensive and can be done in the comfort of one’s home instead of having to queue up at the sales office at the jetty.

The importance of booking a ticket with an identity card was also stressed upon. This is for both security reason and accountability of a passenger considering the dangers of incidents that may occur like terrorism or a boat accident where each and everyone has to be accounted for. It is also a demand of the Seychelles Ports Authority in the cadre of maritime safety. If a person does not provide his or her identity card it is a security problem,” said Mrs Fournier.

But there are other advantages of using the Cat Cocos booking and ticketing system as was explained by Alex Freminot, the company’s Head of Information Technology.

“As part of the booking and ticketing system we have got the web booking module as well which also allows for booking on the website. The online ticketing system is linked to the booking system at the sales office,” he said.

A great incentive is the Early Bird system where passengers can enjoy a 30% discount compared the amount they will have to pay if booked at the sales office.

“If you do your booking online one week in advance, you benefit from 30% discount as you are making your booking much earlier than other customers,” explained Alex.

Wilby Yocette, head captain at Cat Cocos, urged passengers to respect the service and its staff and to stop insulting people. He said measures are being considered to solve this situation.

Another good thing happening at Cat Cocos is the introduction of the Fidelity Card for Seychellois which comes into effect today. The cards are for people between 12-25 years old and 60 and above.

“A passenger must be in possession of this card to automatically benefit from the reduction which is between 25% to 30%. A person who wants to have this card must call at the Cat Cocos Office at Espace Building. For the whole month of March the card is free. This card will have their photo, identity number, and a personal code bar. When they pay for their ticket at the sales office at the jetty or online, they have to enter the number of their card code and their identity number and automatically get a reduction in price,” Mrs Fournier explained. There is also a special tariff for a group of 15 for both children and adults.

Another type of Fidelity Card is a business card where the passenger can accumulate points – one point for each rupee spent.