A deadline for submission of proposals to the Government of the Cayman Islands with respect to the Cargo Port Development Project passed quietly on July 19. If all went according to plan, government officials at the Cayman Islands Ministry of Tourism and Transport, and/or their professional appointees, would have been processing proposals for preparing a business case and master plan for the proposed cargo port development in the final weeks of July.
The restrictions posed by the port facility now in use were effectively articulated in a 42-page document from the Cargo Port Development Project Steering Committee and PACI Board of Directors, under the title: Port Authority of the Cayman Islands Strategic Outline Case; Cargo Port Development Project; Ministry of Tourism and Transport; Author: Cruise and Security Manager, Mr. Joseph Woods. Signed: February 2022. This document in addressing the needs and functionality of a future cargo port for the Cayman Islands, documents the following information:
• The Port of George Town is a multi-purpose facility engaged in cruise operations during the daytime and cargo operations at night. It serves as the main port of entry for at least 95% of all imports.
• The Port is located on approximately 5.95 acres of land, with 3.6 acres under cargo operations and 2.35 acres dedicated to cruise. The cargo area consists of one LoLo pier and one RoRo pier. The container staging area is approximately one acre. It also serves as the transportation staging area during daytime for cruise operations.
• The LoLo pier, a.k.a. the South Cargo pier, is 440 ft. long. It is a shallow draft berth as depth on the inner end is only 12 feet while on the outer end it is 22 feet. The RoRo pier, known as the North pier is only 200 feet long and is also a shallow draft berth, with depth of 18 feet on the inner end and 22 feet on the outer end.
• Port Authority of the Cayman Islands (PACI) has two Manitowoc construction cranes that have been modified for discharging ships. Their boom limits them to work only vessels with containers stacked 6 across. The PACI also has a fleet of eight TICO trucks and 8 chassis to transport containers between the dock and its inland facility. It has a fleet of head-handlers and forklifts for cargo and container handling; and, two Rubber Tire Gantry Cranes for greater efficiencies in container storage.
• The first cruise tender facility was constructed in 1988, followed by a second in 1989. In 2005, the Royal Watler Cruise terminal was opened.
• PACI has three sources of revenue; cargo, cruise and rental property. Cargo generates approximately $18 million in revenue per year; cruise approximately $5 million and rental another $1 million.
• The revenues from cruise operations are what enables PACI to finance its capital projects, improve its infrastructure and fund new equipment and was going to be the basis of funding the proposed new cruise and cargo berthing facility.
• There is no ability to further diversify PACI’s revenue streams by tapping into the transhipment or free-trade zone markets, because the berth is a shallow draft berth, the cranes have limited reach, the pier is too narrow, the storage space is too small and currently serving dual purposes, the berthing availability is limited, cargo has to be trucked and stored offsite and cargo vessels can only be discharged at night when there are no cruise ships in port.
• In 2018, there were 636 cruise calls bringing 1.92 million passengers. In 2019, there were 601 cruise calls and 1.8 million passengers. In 2018, there were 403 cargo vessel calls and in 2019 there were a total of 401.
• Cargo operations can only occur at night, from 6 pm to 5 am. It cannot occur daytime for two reasons: (1) the same space needed to store containers is also needed as a staging area for transportation serving the cruise industry; and, (2) safety. With thousands of tourists, it is a liability to operate heavy equipment amongst them. The one acre of container staging space on the dock has to be cleared before sunrise each day as the same space is required for staging transportation during cruise operations in the daytime.
• The one acre of container storage area on the port is barely adequate for the discharging of one cargo ship presently, let alone two ships simultaneously. One acre of space can accommodate approximately 200 TEUs of stacked containers, or 80 TEUs of RoRo units on chassis.
• The current facility can only be expanded westward into the sea. And 3.25 acres could be gained by filling in the area between the north side of the cargo dock and the south side of Royal Watler cruise tender pier. The cargo pier could be expanded 300 feet to provide a total of 700 ft. of berthing space on the south side of it and 300 feet on the north side of it.
• The second option would be to reserve the current port site for cruise operations and construct a new and modern deep water cargo port at another location on the island.
• Possible Locations for A New Facility: Red Bay/South Sound; North Sound; East End Sound; Frank Sound; Breakers (site of quarries).