Press Release – Tropic Air – March 2nd, 2010 – Tropic Air has announced a major change affecting the San Pedro Terminal. Catherine Paz, a 17-year veteran of Tropic, has announced her resignation as Station Manager and also as the acting Manager of the Sales and Marketing Department. She has decided to go into private business.
Tropic is announcing the appointment of Alberto Wade to become the new Manager of the San Pedro Terminal effective March 1st, 2010. Alberto has worked for Tropic for over 20 years, 12 of which were in the San Pedro Station, as Assistant Manager and the last eight years in the Operations Department.
“We are pleased and fortunate to have Alberto as our new Manager. He comes with a wide range of experience by working in the San Pedro station and then in our Operations Department”, said Johnny Greif, Tropic’s President.
“Alberto brings a tremendous amount of knowledge that he has gained from the various departments throughout Tropic. He is widely known throughout San Pedro and will definitely be an asset to our employees and especially our customers”, concluded Greif.
For the spectators on the beach, it seemed as though there was an accident in progress, but in fact, it was a simulation exercise for NEMO participants. Having trained for search, rescue and evacuation, participants of the exercise put what they learned into action. 
According to Mr. Frank Panton, the scenario was as such: “Two boats collided between the reef and Central Park. Belize Port Authority (BPA), Coast Guard, NEMO and SP Team came into action and tried to rescue and help those on board. 
There was one (hypothetical) death and one injury during the simulation, and participants had to apply what they had learned in the classroom.” He added that the exercise was completed successfully.
NEMO hopes that boat owners, managers, operators, participants and the public at large, will now ensure that passengers using the water taxis are documented (and not just by head count), plus that life jackets are won or made readily accessible to all who travel via water taxis. 
It is important for all to work together in a collaborative manner and be able to communicate with each other in such incidents. Safety and accountability for passengers was the top priority demonstrated.
