The developer behind the mooted East End port facility says that cruise ships could use it as a home port in the future.

This could unlock new itineraries as the Cuban market opens up to more tourism, according to project developer Joe Imparato.

“Cruise ships can certainly visit Cuba and make that part of their itinerary,” he said. “Don’t forget also that it’s becoming more and more difficult for people outside the US wanting to board a ship in Fort Lauderdale to do that because the (airfare) is expensive and (there are) visa problems and security issues. These folks just want to get on a ship; they don’t want to have to get an American visa. Some of them can’t be bothered or can’t get the visa, whatever the reason might be.

“The cruise lines have lost business as a result of that, at least the business that’s emanating out of Florida (and) Texas. There’s an element that has to be addressed, as an opportunity for the cruise lines to recapture that business,” he said.

Michele Paige, president of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, said that the industry, particularly in America, is unsure of the exact facilities that Cuban ports have to offer.

“It’s a whole lot of opportunity; there’s a lot of pent-up demand, especially in South Florida, so it’s going to be very interesting. There’s a lot of unknown entities. We’ve heard rumours, but we’re not allowed to work in Cuba right now.

“What’s the shape of the infrastructure? Are they able to take ships? We’re not going to put a billion-dollar (facility) anyplace if the harbour’s polluted or there’s no place for the passengers to be able to be transported around,” Ms Paige said, adding that the organisation is not currently working with Cuba in discussing these issues.

European lines

The East End Seaport, said Mr. Imparato, would cover around 1,500 acres, of which around 100 acres is the actual port basin. The excavation of the basin would create approximately 14 million cubic yards of fill. The sale of this would make phase one of the project self-funding, he explained. Phase two could involve the creation of infrastructure, including a cargo port, a transhipment point, berthing for mega yachts, a hydrocarbon storage facility and a home port for cruise ships.

The developer explained that these infrastructure projects in phase two could follow a different business model.

“(We envision) the cruise ship terminal becoming a joint venture with a cruise company participating, the government participating and of course ourselves as developer,” he said, adding that the intention is not to compete with any cruise berthing at George Town. Because of the size of the port, it would accommodate smaller ships of 2,000 to 3,000 capacity, possibly from European cruise lines which are actively seeking a base in the Caribbean.

Airlift required

Home porting, where cruise lines base one or more of their vessels at a suitable destination from which they start and end their scheduled tours, requires a certain infrastructure to support it, said Ms Paige.

“The most important thing is airlift,” she said. “You have to facilitate 3,000 passengers and some are going to want to come in early, some are going to want to stay late. Pre- and post- (cruise) you have to have enough affordable airlift, whether scheduled or charter, to bring in 3,000 passengers,” she said.

Mr. Imparato noted that any such home porting would be seven years down the line if the project was given the green light by government.

“We have a lot of time to plan that airlift, the airport facilities, transportation, the hotel. Whatever we have, we know we’re planning to put a cruise terminal in there; we’re going to do some business along that line, and we can rise to that occasion.

“I’ve visited with several cruise lines and discussed this in principle with them and their reaction is, ‘yes, it’s a good idea… you’d have to improve your air support because right now your airlift is not sufficient to support this.’” He added that should the project be given the go-ahead, then further discussions would take place.

Economic impact

According to preliminary analysis undertaken by the developers, Owen Roberts International Airport would have the capacity to handle the increase in numbers, but it would require carriers to increase their charter or scheduled flights, he said, adding that his company would also be analysing the economic impact of associated businesses such as transportation, hotels, fuel, food and service.

“Think about the people who we could employ if we could home port a cruise ship: to service the ship, to house the people, to feed the people, (transportation) and to entertain the people, plus the boost to Cayman Airways would be phenomenal,” Mr. Imparato said.

“We could impose on the cruise lines to employ our people on the ships, to train them for a career on the ships,” he added. “We’re a seafaring nation. Our tradition is seafarers; there’s no reason that we couldn’t insist on that being a condition … it would be beneficial for the cruise line. Why not?”

Home porting benefits

In recent years, Barbados has served as a home port for ships from several different cruise lines, according to Bajan tourism expert Ian Bourne. He said that there were several benefits that home porting has brought to the Eastern Caribbean island.

“If there is a delay in boarding, for example due to a ship quarantine, which happens from time to time, hotels benefit as a result. There’s also the likelihood that cruise passengers stay longer (after their ship returns to Barbados)... as they are already in Barbados, they may as well stay for another five days or 10 days, depending on their budget. All the ancillary industries of tourism then benefit directly or indirectly.”

Additional pressure

Mr. Bourne also noted that the onus was on the tourism industry to take care of customer service because home porting brought with it a series of additional issues and pressures.

“Security can also be tightened up and local people can get squeezed as a result,” he said. “Also, if there’s home porting with only approved vehicles to provide transport for the passengers, it can get cut-throat in taxis, for example, and people don’t feel they are getting an even slice of the pie.”

Over the years, he added, there has also been controversy over the use of Bajan resources to service the cruise ships themselves.

“Even in the middle of water shortages, in the middle of a drought, we’re selling hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to cruise ships. People wonder why we (do that) but we also need the money too, which is a bit of a ‘devil and the deep blue sea’ dilemma. It’s usually a nine-day wonder; the (ships) do what they do anyway, people holler and grumble and then life goes on - the water still ends up being sold because the government approves it,” said Mr. Bourne.

He added that the local Bajan traveller has found cruises have become more affordable as home porting obviates the need to travel to Miami or San Juan, Puerto Rico, to rendezvous with their ship.