Tag Archives: cruise terminal

St. Thomas cruise port to expand

Posted on by
Reply

By Gay Nagle Myers

St. Thomas LongBay LandingSt. Thomas is moving ahead with plans to build a new pier at the Havensight cruise terminal, which would enable the busy port to accommodate more ships, including the industry’s largest ships.

The Long Bay Landing project calls for two 1,350-foot-long parallel berths that will be divided by a pier. No construction time line has been announced.

Today, mega-ships such as Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class vessels must dock at the Crown Bay terminal when calling in St. Thomas. Crown Bay opened in 2007 with two berths.
Of the two ports, Havensight is the busier one. The dock was extended earlier this year so that it could accommodate three ships, but there are times when three berths aren’t enough. Ships sometimes have to anchor in the harbor and tender passengers to and from shore when the pier is full.

The Long Bay Landing project will keep the U.S. Virgin Islands competitive with other Caribbean destinations as well as increase government revenue, according to Joseph Boschulte, president and CEO of West Indian Company (WICO), operator of the Havensight terminal.

“We thought long and hard about how this would affect not only our bottom line, but also the territory as a whole. We had to be sure that any new development would not be at the expense of our environment and our community,” Boschulte said.

Cruise-related revenue accounts for more than 70% of the Virgin Islands economy.

“We can no longer rest on our laurels, thinking that our islands are the automatic first choice for travelers,” Boschulte said. “The competition is tough, and our neighbors have watched both the good and bad choices we have made in order to improve our products.”

St. Thomas cruise passengers numbers totaled 1.47 million through September, up 4% over the same period in 2013. Year-end passenger numbers in 2013 came close to the 2 million mark (1.99 million), up 4.9% over 2012.

New San Francisco cruise terminal dedicated

Posted on by
Reply

By Tom Stieghorst
James R. Herman Cruise Terminal, San FranciscoThe Port of San Francisco is dedicating its new cruise terminal, which will accommodate longer cruise ships, in a Sept. 25 ceremony.

Situated on the city’s famed Embarcadero, Terminal 27 totals 88,000 square feet on two levels. An older maritime shed was demolished to make space for the terminal, which had a soft opening with the arrival of a Princess Cruises ship last week.

The new terminal comes with an overhead gangway for boarding passengers along the Pier 27 apron and shoreside power infrastructure to permit docked ships to shut down their onboard engines.

A three-acre triangular paved area between Pier 27 and Pier 29 has been developed as a ground transportation and provisioning area.

The existing terminal at Pier 35 will continue as a secondary terminal when there is more than one cruise ship in port.

The port currently gets between 40 and 80 calls a year. That is not expected to change, although the passenger count will grow because the ships docking at the pier are getting larger.

Redevelopment of Pier 27 has been in the works since 2007.

Plan to revive port of Dover’s Western Docks put forward

Posted on by
Reply

By Phil Davies 

 

A plan to revive the Western Docks at the port of Dover is being put forward to create more than 600 jobs and safeguard a further 140.

It would enable the port to ensure that it has the essential infrastructure in place for future years with the additional opportunity to increase ferry berth capacity in the Eastern Docks through the transfer of cargo operations to the west.

The scheme would protect long-term port capacity and enable the transformation of the waterfront with the potential creation of a new marina in what is being described as acting as a “catalyst” for the regeneration of Dover.

But commitment to major investment will need to be supported and enhanced by increasing the port’s ability to fund such a “massive transformation”.

Dover Harbour Board said it had reviewed a masterplan for the docks over several months and identified a “significant opportunity” to support its customers and the community and provide “the game changer” for which the people of Dover have been waiting for so long.

The Harbour Board’s vision is described as an evolution of previous proposals and “represents a possible way of achieving key benefits of the plan based upon current market conditions and opportunities within the cargo business”.

The Harbour Board said: “Having successfully achieved government approval in 2012 to develop the Western Docks, the Board wishes to seize the opportunity to lock in the many benefits that this could bring just as soon as it possibly can.”

Dover District Council leader Paul Watkins said: “Delivering major port development that protects long term port capacity but delivers jobs and opportunities now whilst creating a catalyst for major regeneration will be a significant boost to the region and shows real commitment to Dover.”

Dover Harbour Board chairman George Jenkins said: “Transforming this part of the port estate can in turn support the wider transformation agenda, one which sees the port and town working together, which the Port of Dover is also championing through its Dover waterfront regeneration project with Dover District Council.

“The people of Dover have waited long enough for Dover’s revival. That revival could start right now, breathing new life into our port and into our community.”