Shadow Transport Minister Mr. Dennis Lister yesterday told Government to help shoulder the burden of tenders for Dockyard based cruise ships.

After all, he claimed, Government had enticed Meridian cruise ship owner, Chandris Celebrity Cruises to choose Dockyard over Hamilton and St. George's in the first place.

His comments came on the heels of the decision by Celebrity Cruises to drop a more than $500,000-a-year evening tender service from Dockyard to Hamilton.

The Government-set fee has risen to the point that Celebrity has decided to provide its crew and passengers with a day service only.

This leaves the 1,400 passengers and 600 crew to take taxis or catch the last bus from Hamilton that leaves before midnight, costing $8 for a round trip.

On Monday night Marine and Ports laid on a late ferry service from Hamilton to Dockyard at the request of Celebrity that advertises its free tender service in its brochure.

But director of Marine and Ports, Mr. Ronald Ross admitted the late ferry had been unsuccessful, attracting just a handful of people.

If the scenario was the same yesterday evening, he warned, the service would be cancelled. He added the extra service had proved "very expensive for Government.'' But Mr. Lister claimed if a cruise ship owner was prepared to accommodate Government by berthing at Dockyard, Government should be prepared to absorb the extra cost.

"We have to realise how the ship came to be in Dockyard,'' he said.

"Government enticed the owner to go into Dockyard and chose the port.'' And although the Meridian was too large to negotiate Hamilton and St. George's harbours, Celebrity might have proposed a smaller ship instead and avoided the extra cost of providing a tender service.

"Being Dockyard berthed is a harder sale than St. George's,'' he said. But as MP for Sandys North, Mr. Lister applauded any proposal to increase transport to the West End.

Businesses, visitors and locals would all benefit from added ferry and bus services, he claimed.

"We, the PLP, have been saying that for years,'' he claimed.

And Government should take a more planned approach when laying on extra services by marketing them more effectively.

It was not enough, he said, just to put on services as an emergency response and withdraw them two days later because of lack of response.

"Government has to make it successful by taking a more planned approach,'' he said.