January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
We are at a crossroads on the cruise ship issue
No decisions have been made, but let’s not misrepresent the larger vessels
Let me share with you some facts about the cruise industry — how it impacts Bermuda’s tourism product and economy and how we are approaching the environmental aspects of our cruise ports master.
The cruise market
The cruise market in North America is dominated by seven major cruise lines, Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International. Combined, these cruise lines have over 90 per cent of the North America market in terms of capacity. The average length of cruise ships built by these cruise lines within the last five years is over 900ft and over 2500 passenger capacity. By definition, ships that are less than 975ft in length and 108ft wide are called ‘panamax’ ships because they can transit the Panama Canal.
Ships larger than this cannot transit the Canal and are called ‘post-panamax’ or ‘mega-ships’. These larger cruise ships cannot transit Town Cut in St. George’s or Two Rocks Passage in Hamilton Harbour without modifications to those channels and ports.
Contrast this with the cruise ships that currently sail to Bermuda and dock in St. George’s and Hamilton. All are less than 700ft in length and less than 100ft in width. More importantly, all are reaching the end of their useful age and the only reason the cruise lines are keeping them is to serve the summer Bermuda market. The Ministry has been told these cruise ships will be sold or transferred within the next three to four years. A look at the new ship orders reveals that there are few ships on order that can dock at either St. George’s or Hamilton given current constraints.
Some have said that Bermuda should seek to have the smaller luxury-brand cruise lines comes to Bermuda. These lines include Crystal Cruises, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, Windstar, Seabourn and Silverseas. Between them they have less than 20 cruise ships and few additional on order. In almost all cases, these ships sail on world-wide itineraries that may include one or two stops per year in Bermuda.
Clearly, the current trend is towards larger cruise ships and we have concluded that unless Bermuda addresses this reality we face a situation where both Hamilton and St. George’s will not be able to dock the modern cruise ships.
We’ve been studying!
In order to address the reality that cruise ships may not enter St. George’s or Hamilton in the future, the Ministry of Tourism and Transport has embarked on Ports Study. The Study has a number of elements. The firm of Bermello, Ajamil & Partners has been consulted by Government to do the following:
Preliminary design and development costs for a second cruise pier at Dockyard;
A transportation centre at Dockyard for bus, ferry, taxi and watersports tour operations;
Land-side infrastructure requirements in support of the second cruise pier;
Preliminary design and costs for docking panamax-class cruise ships at Penno’s Wharf in St. George’s;
Swell condition study at Town Cut in St. George’s;
Costs for widening Town Cut and other improvements in St. George’s.
Government is also conducting other studies:
Computer simulations of panamax-class cruise ships to assess issues for them to dock in Hamilton Harbour, including the impact on Two Rocks Passage;
Computer simulations of panamax-class cruise ships to assess issues for them to enter St. George’s, including required modifications at Penno’s Wharf and Ordnance Island and Town Cut;
Examining options if modifications to Town Cut and Hamilton channels are prohibitively expensive or have significant negative environmental impact.
The Bermuda National Trust is also conducting an environmental assessment of the larger cruise ships on Bermuda. The Ministry was made aware of this study before it was announced and both supports it and will participate in it.
Our goal is to complete this phase of the Ports Study by this summer. At that time, we will be in a better position to determine our recommendations and what additional environmental impact studies will be required moving forward.
In addition to the above technical studies, the Minister has established a Waterfront Task Force to examine the potential for redevelopment of all three ports. The Minister has made it clear that waterfront plans at all three ports takes precedent over the docking of the larger cruise ships.
It is important to note that Government has not made any decisions regarding modifying Town Cut in St. George’s or Two Rocks Passage in Hamilton Harbour to accommodate the larger cruise ships. We will complete the current phase of the Ports Study before making any further decisions. Of particular concern to us is the impact of modifying our channels and ports on Bermuda’s environment, and these impacts will be assessed accordingly.
Representatives conducting the Ports Study have received considerable input from stakeholders. These groups have included the three cruise ports (Corporation of St. George’s, Corporation of Hamilton and the West End Development Corporation), the Marine Resources Board, the Ports Authority, numerous Government departments, the Chamber of Commerce and the cruise lines. We have also met with the National Trust.
The facts
Mr. Hayward stated that cruise lines do not promote the ports. In fact, contract cruise ships sailing to Bermuda are required to have literature on-board that promotes Bermuda and they cannot have shops or casinos open while in port.
Mr. Hayward offered statistics about the waste generated by cruise ships. It might be surprising to some that the larger cruise ships potentially have less negative impact on this aspect of the environment. The two largest cruise ships that sailed to Bermuda on a regular basis in 2005 were the Voyager of the Seas and the Grandeur of the Seas. Neither ship required water and neither required hooking into our sewer lines. Nor were they allowed to deposit trash while in Bermuda. Due to their large size, the newer cruise ships have sophisticated on-board waste management facilities, something the older and smaller cruise ships may lack.
The cruise ship product contributes over $60 million annually to Bermuda’s economy. Just ask water and land tour operators, bus and ferry workers, and retailers how important cruise ships are to their livelihood — it’s usually a significant portion of their business. The decisions we make must take into account the impact on their livelihood as well as the physical and man made environment.
In summary, Bermuda faces a crossroads in relation to its cruise product. We have adopted an approach that is both systematic and inclusive of stakeholder involvement. The issues are complex and solutions will not be simple.
Comments:
You must login to comment.