Petition launched to stop cruise port
Proposed cruise dock for Grand Cayman
(CNS): Almost 1,000 people have already signed a petition requesting the Cayman government to put a stop to the plans for a cruise berthing facility in the George Town harbour after the publication of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) revealed the devastation it would cause to marine life. Photographer Courtney Platt began the online campaign at the weekend based on the findings in the draft EIA outlining the severity of the damage the proposed project would have on reefs and the adverse impact construction would have on the capital’s tourism product.
Although the environmental consultants have indicated that they do not believe the development of the piers would cause any damage to Seven Mile Beach, the permanent damage to the harbour and the water attractions there and the disruption to the capital in general during the anticipated three years of construction has left the project in question.
While Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell appears to remain committed to the project, 150 or so attendees at a public meeting last week were much less so. As experts outlined the environmental destruction and disruption the project would cause, many people raised questions about how the limited benefit of berthing could compensate for the massive losses that the dredging and construction would cause.
Cayman Islands coral reef
Platt, one of many individuals at the meeting who implored government not to proceed now that the impact has been outlined, begun the petition to demonstrate the lack of community-wide support for the project and the response of visitors.
He told CNS that he understood fully that some people have been supporting the idea of berthing in the capital for decades and a lot of work has happened to move towards it. But now the devastation of the project was clear, it was time to reassess and stop this plan before it goes any further.
“We will lose a major tourist attraction,” the photographer said, as he pointed to the $9 million a year spent by tourists on watersports activities in the harbour.
He said there was a different approach government could take to boost the already growing overnight tourism and compensate businesses that had hoped the piers would boost their takings with business from more overnight guests. Platt said that government had failed to recognize the much greater potential offered by divers than the debatable benefits of cruise berthing. He said investment in reef protection and a concerted environmental effort to bring back the reef fish populations could see Cayman take a much bigger share of the global dive tourism market, which has massive potential.
During a recent TEDx talk at the UCCI Platt spoke about the immense loss of reef fish that has taken place over the last 30 to 40 years as a result of over-fishing.
But even with a damaged product divers spend $140 million a year here. If the decline was reversed, Platt believes that figure could be more than doubled.
“I am confident if we had the fish numbers that were here in the 1980’s today we could certainly double the amount of tourism dollars, if not increase it by three or four times as much,” he told CNS.
He said it would attract not only more divers but the high spending divers who are looking for big reef fish and massive schools of fish. Recognizing the need to cut back on fishing dramatically to bring back marine life to the reefs, he has called for Caymanian-only fishing licences and a catch limited per person per day, as well as an outright ban on everything but line fishing on the reefs.
With more investment in conservation, Platt believes government could abandon the idea of trying to boost cruise tourism with piers that offer no guarantees of success but plenty of certainty when it comes to the destruction of reef and marine habitat in and around the harbour.
While support for the piers has not yet disappeared since the publication of the draft EIA, one time supporters are now raising doubts over whether the damage and disruption would be worth speculative benefits. One local businessman, who wanted to remain anonymous, was once was fully behind the idea but told CNS that without any guarantees from the cruise ships and with the amount of disruption expected in the capital during construction, impacting all of the harbor front businesses and even cargo operations, the price of the piers is “looking too high for us to pay”.
Platt urged everyone to sign the petition as he warned that unless the project is halted, we will be destroying the very reason many cruisers come here in the first place, which is to enjoy the marine environment.
Category: development, Local News, Marine Environment, Science & Nature
And the voice spoke up from the undersea world and it said “My sheep, my children, my less than stellar dugongs. Let the Catholic jewellers build out the land from the Holey Sea for verily it is Tru Tru that they were promised a south dock of that you can Bay Shore enough.”
So far the reef where anchors have been dropped from 1937 hasn’t changed any of the surrounding reef. Plus cruise lines would be more then happy to build the piers for us, a win-win situation.
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On Jun 16, 2015, at 5:18 PM, Ron wrote:\
I believe that growth is essential to the success of any economy. Always have and always will.
However, the proposed cruise ship dock in Georgetown is one of the worst ideas I have seen proposed in Cayman over the past 25 years. It ranks up there with an oil refinery and dredging the north sound.
Two significant areas of concern lead me to this conclusion.
1) Financial. To spend 150 million dollars (before cost over runs) with a 1 to 3% hoped for increase in cruise arrivals (no guarantees here either) is a financial risk that no businessman would ever make. I understand that money is so short that we cannot build a proper airport, create a much needed mental health program or build a functional waste facility. Why thrown millions of dollars we do not have on a facility we really don’t need.
2) Environment. The proposed dock will guarantee destroy the reef system from the Lobster Pot through Georgetown and past the Sunset House. Talk of “moving the reef” is nonsense-it cannot be done. Anybody who has ever been underwater knows that. Plus, if it could be done, what is the cost…another 150 million.
Thank You,
Ron Kipp
ronkipp@candw.ky
What a mess, dek dat! We’re not all about to lose everything for every rich white man (white Jamaican) who wants to destroy this place for their love of money. Stand up to them Premier and PPM, get some confidence in your power
yes to the dock as a Caymanian I work in the tourism industry and I do agree with the dock
Yes to the Dock!
Wow. The duty free lobby sure has an active thumbing crew……
It’s amazing how some people think that their opinion is the only one.
I used to work at the Grand Switzerland Store and one day I learned a lesson about judging people. We used to have the same opinion and think that certain cruise lines were a waste of time. My colleague said to me “These Carnival people won’t buy anything” and unfortunately she said this right next to one of the guest that happened to be on Carnival. The Tourist turned to her, flashing her huge diamond ring and pointed to her Carnival pass and said “rich people like to have fun too” and walked right out of the store. That lady had been looking at a $10,000 piece. In general I know that the ticket prices are lower on Carnival, but not all wealthy tourists stay at the Ritz. We ask people to think about the little people but then we want to cast out those same “Little people” from vacation. It’s a shame.
Let’s face it, the average guest at the Ritz spends at breakfast what the average Carnival cruise family spend in Cayman during a stop.
Carnival cruisers are really good a just looking at expensive things.
Just wanted to put the following view point forward from a financial perspective. Don’t know the actual figures, maybe someone can fill them in.
Cost 150 million. 20 years at 5% means 237.5 million including interest, repayable at 10.15 million a year to service this debt. It would be more than 5% based on the last bond issue.
Income now $10 per cruise ship passenger.
Yearly income at 2 million passengers equals $20 million.
So half our current income disappears.
Instead why don’t we
Fix the airport so more overnight passengers who spend money stay on the island.
Fix the dump before we have an environmental disaster that gets bigger by the day.
Then look at cruise berthing which is last on the list.
Lookyah, pot calling the kettle black. I can’t help but laugh hearing the dive groups calling the cruisers cheap. When I grew up we used to refer to divers as saltwater people. We used to make jokes about them only going to all you can eat and cheap drink specials. Places like the original lone star and sunset house were the top saltwater people spots. There’s a reason you call certain establishments “dive bars”
If you think it’s divers that paid for water sedge, the Ritz and the coming Kimpton you are living in a completely different world.
The cruise lines are committed to the project. Carnival Corp (Carnival, Holland America, Princess, P&O, Aida, Costa, Cunard) want one of the piers and Royal and Disney want the other. This is a no brainer for cayman. If the cruise business reduces by 50% due to ships pulling out it will be a perpetual summer. How narrow minded can you get to say that only a few will benefit? How many thousands of people work in downtown George Town? Do you really think that they are volunteers? Do these people not rent apartments, buy groceries, dine at restaurants, go to happy hour, pay electric bills…all money that goes into our economy. When you look at spending in CI vs. other ports, CI spend is around $90 a person while other ports with berthing facilities that attract the bigger, newer, more expensive ships are around $140 per passenger. It is not just about the number of cruise passengers, it’s about the type of passengers and right now they are sailing right by Cayman for other ports. We are treating the cruise business in the complete opposite to our strategy. We are a high end island, targeting high end clientele in all other aspects, but in cruise we are not able to get the high end customers because the best ships can’t come here without berthing. Where to do think a lot of the stayover guests found out about Cayman? They went on a cruise and then decided to come back. Right now we are sending the best ships and best potential stayover guests to other islands. How do we not see that letting these customers go means that future travelers will now be going to other islands. Tourism is all linked.
I still don’t see the benefit. 90% of the workers in Georgetown are minimum paid foreign workers. They spend very little as they earn very little and send a portion home. The only people making a lot of money and adding to the economy is the few guys that own these places. And if you compare $140 a day to how much a stayover tourist here for diving probably spends a day, I don’t see the why we would risk losing the stayover for the cruise.
A stay over diver spends around $100-120 per day just diving let alone eating, drinking, car rental, shopping and paying to stay in a condo or hotel. Do the math for Gods sake.
Most of the luxury, six star ships are smaller vessels without the high numbers of passengers – these are the more expensive ships, not the new Carnivals, Royal Caribbeans etc. They come to Cayman infrequently at present, but they are able to visit, just as the older mass market ships are. But GT is no longer a high end port. Try getting off one of these ships in GT and see the mass of people shouting at you about tours etc. There are also a lot of stores now focused on low end product. If you wanted to get that $ per passenger spend higher then we have to focus on selling quality product in a quality shopping environment. It’s not just about the numbers of people.
CNS is this petition online? I would sign it , and if I could I would sign it a 100 times.
You can click on the link in the box at the end of the article. I was able to successfully sign the petition a few minutes ago using that link.
I don’t like the cruise shippers. Too many of them are cheap. The businesses catering to them have ruined GT and hardly employ anyone who is local anyway.
This is a potentially devastating project on two levels.
Firstly, no one can actually say with any real certainty what the environmental consequences will be until the thing is built and the impact assessed in reality and over the longer term. We have seen portions of southern Seven Mile Beach severely eroded on occasion with the damage exacerbated by sea walls and foundations built too close to the water’s edge.
Secondly, given that public resources are involved, what assurances are there that the numbers are remotely accurate?
We have at least one terrible example of a project (Boatswain Beach) where the numbers were totally wrong and the public purse now has to fork out tens of millions of dollars annually to keep it going. And the national airline has also consistently got it wrong over many decades, where equipment and route decisions are concerned, again relying on massive annual infusions of state capital.
So if the government is yet again going to take it upon itself to use public funds to pay for or subsidise or guarantee a project that benefits a particular private industry sector, everyone had better pay close attention to the projected costs and revenues.
To date, our governments, just like governments all over the world, have demonstrated no ability or success whatsoever in this type of analysis.
“If we build it they will come” is just not good enough I’m afraid.
Has anybody noticed the conflicts of interests on the Port Authority board?
Is it a coincidence that the deputy chairman who stands to benefit from the expansion is openly advocating for its development and no one is concerned about the perceived conflict. How was he appointed? Is the criteria for a PA board appointment to have a pecuniary interest in its development with no regard for costs to the marine environment?
What a difference an environmental impact study makes, which is overshadowed by the lust for money. interesting times indeed.
Well with all the possible damage portrayed in the study, does the CIG really want to risk its legacy by being named as the ones who created the demise of the environment of the capital?.
It is time to think outside the box, frankly, what every cruise ship line wants is not necessarily good for the country and we should be looking carefully at how we can enhance the experience to a different level which is not to our detriment by finding solutions that are palatable and that do not create a financial burden on generations to come. Why not think about moving the cargo dock facility out of George Town? Is there a possibility for this to happen somewhere on the eastern side of the Island where there would be less impact on dredging and where proper facilities could be created. A move of the cargo dock could certainly bring about a complete change and provide for an opportunity to create a better ambiance and facilities for the cruise customer. For example, sitting areas for the passengers about to board ship, bathroom facilities, tourist brochures area and staff to inquire on the experience and encourage return visit by air water fountains etc.
What about improvement of tenders and enhancing of the landing area, has anyone focused on what can be done with this aspect. Hey and what about recruiting and training of customer service staff to attend to cruise passengers; greeting them on landing, bidding them good bye as they embark, providing directions to the buses and the taxis, offering assistance on the streets and on the dock area. What about pedestrianizing George Town and creating satellite parking around Mary street, school house road and rock hole with tram cars bussing workers in and out of the main town centre( allowing only service vehicles, police and other important personnel access) oh wait and a place for live entertainement for our guests and certainly areas where our local populace can come and enjoy their week end in George Town.
I’m sure that there are enough creative souls and minds local and foreign architects and planners, business people and workers who could be put together to visualize and create a new town centre that provides a second to none cruise experience and a venue for locals on week ends. Why not think and create An experience within our means that focuses on the reality of making people feel comfortable when they come to our home, where the friendliness of cayman can create an ever lasting impact and which if carefully managed can add value to our thrust for air arrivals.
Why not think smart, why not stop following the crowd and create something of worth for today and for future generations without the possible demise of the waterfront environment and creation of spiralling debt, why not think Cayman and not the rest of the world.
I pray for wisdom knowledge and understanding for all of the Members of the Legislative Assembly in recognizing and doing the right thing at the right time for the country they have sworn to protect.
When you say “I pray for wisdom knowledge and understanding for all of the Members of the Legislative Assembly in recognizing and doing the right thing at the right time for the country they have sworn to protect” you realize you are talking about members of the MLA. Praying I am afraid is not going to change life long habits or give wisdom where none exists.
Sorry I left out that prayer is also needed for those who only belly ache and don’t attempt to provide solutions. Oh and for the record I wrote and approve the previous message. John Henry.
You saying that as if “conflict of interest” was new or indeed understood. In Cayman the concept does not appear to exist.
There are no conflicts of interest in Cayman. To say otherwise is treasonous.
The Port Authority is not the body which decides wether or not the project is a Go or not….the CI get/Cabinet make that decision. The Port Authority is responsible for running and managing the facility.
Correct. However do not ignore the facts that the Port Authority Board of Directors especially the Chairman and Deputy Chair also lobby the government and are involved in discussions with FCCA, Ministry of Tourism, Cabinet and contractors over who will eventually build this 300million project which will result in Cayman’s biggest environmental disaster. The development of cruise berthing piers benefit the same board members who derive a direct financial benefit. That is what a conflict of interest is. The Anti-Corruption Law 2010 speaks directly to these instances. The conflicts by several board members is exactly what we feared under the Udp but seem to now find acceptable. The 3-4 duty free retailers who are lobbying for the project do not care about anything else than their pockets. The self interests of a few at the expense of the environment and rest of us is a clear conflict especially when they sit on the board.
And they talk about McKeeva???
Interesting that most of the positive posts thus far are about a project that will destroy the marine life in GT harbor and impact negatively SMB while decimating the dive industry and crystal blue waters which is precisely what tourists come to enjoy. It seems most of the pro-construction posts come from a local marine consultants. Why wasn’t this obvious conflict shared publicity at the meeting when he spoke during the Q&A session?
What about the unquantifiable losses to small business that rely on the marine life that will be destroyed? Wake up progressives! Kirk Freeport, Diamonds Intl, Tortuga and Dart are not the only businesses in GT that rely on cruise tourism for its survival. Think of the small man as well before selling out the country and environment to big business.
We have placed Marine Parks, Replenishment area and Environmental zones plus seasons since the 80’s. Still we are losing fish. But we are not losing Lion fish. If we dump fish,lobster,conch and whelk into the sea from thrash ,fish would thrive. We would lower the amount of garbage at the same time. All you would need to do is throw the fish food from your plate into garbage bin at the rest. We have blocked people from fishing but have not given them an alternative. If we stop all fishing from shore to the area where 50 ft of water starts we will solve the problem. If you can only fish from a boat it will allow baby fish to be protected .
The dive co. do not teach high school children to instructor level. The companies will offer free courses while you work filling tanks . Which in 6 months will deter most humans from a career in diving. Hard work for little pay with a promise to start diving that happens very little.
Our continental shelf is very close as opposed to Southeast Asia. They also have large fish farms which would go with what I’m saying. They love fishing and there is very little control . Their culture also loves to eat baby fish . We on the other hand have a tremendous amount of laws if you start farming. For instance look at what environmentalist say about our turtle farm. They are constantly trying to close it down while complaining about no turtles? You can’t win.
We are in denial when we tell young people and old people that the cruise piers will destroy all diving in Grand Cayman. We have diving all over Grand Cayman. If it was left to diving Companies you wouldn’t be able to get apiece of fish or step in the sea unless it was on one of their 40 boats. We have to be careful what new laws we keep adding to protect their businesses. Has Courtney taught anyone how to photograph for free? Has he taken anyone from school and hired them? What is he really offering? Stop fishing? No cruise ship pier.The reefs are going to be destroyed? “The sky is falling” ?
Why did they forget to tell you about the cruise ship anchoring that drags the reef when they come? There is no dock so the ships drop anchor everytime they come. Why don’t he show videos of that ? George town reefs and reefs around the world are dying. Thats a fact and National Geographic said so.
What about the PILOT that caused the ship to destroy the reef close to Sunset House? Did they close any time since then? Did diving stop? No ,it didn’t stop and beer is still flowing. How come there is no fervour from XXXXXXX about the reef and the mistake from his employee? Shouldn’t he pay? It is the “Queen’s Bottom” all the way to the high waters’ mark. Wheres the check?
You have to understand that facts don’t matter to extreme environmentalists. Emotions and intentions do… It’s all about how much you show you CARE about the environment. Not results. As long as you get up there and say : “Humans are destructive to the environment and therefore should be curtailed and/or prevented from destroying the environment!” – Applause! “Humans overfish and consume everything and their paths and should be stopped!” – Applause! “Development destroys the environment!” – Applause!! “Humans cause global warming and are making the seas rise!” – Applause.. And the list goes on, acid rain, hurricanes, reef destruction, fish depletion, the dock will cause beach erosion and kill Cayman’s reefs, canals will cause flooding on the island, protect south sound from Canals and humans… etc etc… Its all based on the same ideology and thus, anytime you try to do anything that advances human development, you will be met with this sort of utter emotional non-sense.
I am a fisherman and have been a diver since 1981. I am a true environmentalist, and I can tell you the last thing I want is not to be able to go in the north sound or anywhere else on this island and have clean water, catch and eat the fish, lobsters and conchs. And I know as a fact, that marines life generally LOVES human structures, in fact so much so, that it is illegal in Florida for example to create any structure that provide any form of shelter in the Florida bay because it congregates too much marine life such as lobsters and fishes for easy picking. Snook for example, loves docks (like in Cayman), they love canals, so does Tarpon, Barracudas and mangrove Snappers. Snappers and groupers love pilings and artificial reefs. If the town dock is built correctly and is protected from very OBVIOUS environmental hazards like pollution and black water dumping, there is no reason the dock cannot be built to make it team with marine life. The dock will also be in open ocean/waters winch will greatly aid in any contaminants being pooled in the area and will be flushed with the currents (as is it is today on the present dock). My only comment on the dock would be to NOT make it a solid concrete structure, rather built on large pilings with the walkway bottom would be submerged a 10-15 feet below sea level so that the waves cannot get underneath the dock even at low tides or during storms, however it should not touch the ocean floor. Will the coral under the dock die, likely due to lack of sunlight, but that’s not the end of the world or Cayman diving, much of the rock with coral growth on it can be moved, this is being done presently and working, it called reef restoration. So why can it not be done here?
The other complete nonsense you will hear is that somehow the dock will “cause” beach erosion. Docks don;t cause beach erosion, currents and waves do. in fact many places create docks and rocks piers on beaches to STOP beach erosion from rip tides.
Unfortunately the outdoors environmentalism interests has been hijacked by an extreme liberal oriented political ideology that somehow humans MUST be in disharmony with nature unless they follow the new liberal regime and its ideology. and unfortunately are supported in many instances by a bunch of applauding seals that as long as you utter just how bad we (the average citizen) will destroy the place because we are too stupid to take care of the environment without the regime, you will always get applauded or chastised if you disagree.
The DoE for example, their policy has been to BAN and to restrict zones and oppose development in general. Period. They hardly are able to enforce currently laws, they don’t have effective take limits and the size on take fish is ridiculous (seriously 12 inches for a Nassau grouper?, None for Snook?) They have been controlling the marine zones with their regulation for decades and the fish are still depleting according to them… Now look at the new proposals. basically banning all forms of fishing anywhere nears or inside reefs… And of course, that won’t work either “result wise” because poaching will only increase. (poachers don’t obey the current laws, never mind new ones. FYI)
Anyhow build the dock, just do it wisely.
Your poll has been hacked by some dock supporter.
Forget the cruise shippers. They get in the way. Walking two abreast Carnival cruisers take up the space of 4 or 5 normal people.
Moses, give it up, just say NO. The dock will improve nothing for us and will only benefit the cruise lines by giving the passengers unfettered access to just walk on to the ship for the free lunch and cheaper shopping.
A dock will only allow the tendering company to allow the tenders to deteriorate due to lack of business. This will result in less or NO tendering service.
What this means is that on our peak days, we will see a maximum if 4 ships call instead of the 5 or 6 cruise ships on peak days that we get now. On the slow days we will see only 1 or 2.
I haven’t been snorkelling since I was a young child so I’m sad to hear about what is happening to the reefs. A question for anyone who knows the answer: will a reduction in fishing make it harder for restaurants to have the fresh fish those divers want when they get out of the water?
Most of the fish served at restaurants is not near shore fish caught over shallow reefs, but open water species fished from well off shore.
Sorry, but the fact is that most fish supplied to restaurants, supermarkets etc. comes on boats from overseas! Take a drive down Marina Drive, or around North Sound Estate canals and see.
It’s easy to be against all development if your livelihood doesn’t depend on it. Only $100 per cruise passenger you say? That’s $100,000,000 per year lost from our economy if we don’t accommodate the projected growth, including the bigger ships that are already bypassing us. A single Oasis class ship would inject over $500,000 into the economy on every single stop.
They don’t inject money into the ‘economy’ they inject it into the cruise lines’ pockets and a very small number of service providers.
The way to bring money into Cayman in a way which benefits local businesses is to boost stay-over tourism. The best ways to do that are to fix the airport and the dump.
You got that right, JTB!
I have been diving around Grand Cayman since the late 70’s and I can tell you there is no big difference in the number and size of reef fish now vs. back then. Maybe a few less Nassau Groupers but they are now protected and on the rebound. Certainly not a big enough difference that sport divers would notice. Mr. Platt’s comments have absolutely no basis in fact.
Absolute nonsense. You must be diving with your eyes closed especially while diving off Seven Mile Beach. I am afraid you are suffering from memory loss or you are having problems with your eyesight. The seventies was a long time ago.
I hope Carnival stops coming to Cayman The destination sucks for cruise goers The tendering sucks The crummy tour to 7 mile beach sucks and that mud and tree stumps just off the beach is nasty. Their is nothing to see if you go snorkeling along 7 mile beach except for some sunk rust bucket just by burger king and the water smells like sewage just off the iron shore by paradise. The beggers and ghettos just off the waterfront is nasty. I always thought Cayman was something special but after visiting I wont book another cruise that goes to Cayman.Just another third world destination with rip off prices.
and I wont ever stay over as a tourist
troll
Oh how very troll……
This is exactly the short of cheap low-end tourist Cayman does not want to avoid coming. It is the high-end stay-overs that should be the target. This poster seemed well aligned with Carnival’s demographic.
I am a troll Pointing out the facts I know your your island and the people like the back of my hand I have many friends and a few I am not fond of I call it the way I see it and your island is falling apart daily I cant wait for the queen to come in and take control and put many of you in jail.
In the mean time I see a bunch of men running around like poisoned rats over the FIFA mess and uncle sam will jail many
I see they did not teach punctuation at troll school. It is shame you cannot post in crayon pictures as that would probably be your primary means of written communication.
the eia…suits the do-nothing ppm perfectly….this is another issue they will now not have to deal with
The Cruise berthing dock should be in Red Bay where the least about of damage by dredging would be caused but the special interests groups and retail merchants own this government. This plan will be an expensive ecological disaster for the Caymans.
The tendering process will still be required on days where there are 4+ boats in the harbour since the cruise dock can only fit 4 boats. Don’t think tendering is gone – it’s not.
Also, if people think 4 ships are going to somehow pull up all at once, and dump all their passengers off in George Town they are sorely mistaken. The cruise ships each have to dock one at at time ie: staggered. So when you compare to now (tender boats going out to all the cruise ships at once), docking doesn’t look too great…. Cruise lines will likely stagger their arrivals such that the time in port is actually less than if they all arrived at once.
Taxi drivers, bus operators, and sandbar tour operators are pretty much the only people who will perhaps benefit from the dock.
We need to focus on stay over vacationers who park themselves here for a week or two, rent cars, use taxi’s, visit restaurants, visit grocery stores, rent hotel rooms, or VRBO rooms. Those are the people who are putting cash into the pockets of islanders – not cruise shippers getting off the boat, buying one tour and having 60% of the fee go back to the cruise lines.
Fix the dump, improve the airport, and don’t kill the natural beauty of the island.
They don’t all magically show up all at the same time now either. they don’t just beam in like star trek. Naturally they’re staggered anyway
ah but now if two or three ships arrive almost at the same time you can start tendering all the same time. Under the new proposal it will only be possible to berth one ship at a time so a minimum 30 mins before any passengers can get off, then the next shop can come in and another 30 mins and repeat and repeat.
The only proven way to get anything done in these islands is to organise a petition against it.
Well done all…….
This port design is the one with least environmental impact compared to all others planned before it. All of the other dock designs claimed way more land from the ocean. This is something that Cayman needs and will have to be done. At least this government seems to be trying to do it the right way. Can you imagine what it would have been like if either the Chinese or Decco were allowed to build the huge town centers that were previously proposed? You think people are unhappy now, just see what would happen if Big Mac gets back in power and goes off to the races again to the highest bidder.
Separately, the thought of either moving this to south sound/red bay or the north sound is way more impact. You have to cut open over 600ft of reef to get the ships in, then you have to dredge out an area of 50 times the area proposed in this George Town port. The only logical place for the cruise dock is in George Town. George Town has developed over generations. This also solves the issue of the Cargo area.
You did mean small mac right? By the way, his days in power are permanently over, thank God Almighty.
It sort of like saying the least damaging way to have an oil spill
The cargo facility of the port is already at capacity and needs expansion. Right now all shipping companies are having to use smaller ships and make multiple trips due to the shallow water. Taking multiple trips and using multiple smaller ships increases the cost of all items brought into Cayman and these ships already will be phased out. Regardless of whether this pier is built or not, there will have to be dredging done to accommodate the cargo operations.
The way that the environmental push is spinning the information is not accurate. The area shown in the dredge area is 15 acres but only approximately 10 to 15% of that is actual live coral. The Dive companies and watersports operators do not use this area, this area is currently always occupied by the tender boats. The real push that is being delivered is being funded by the owners of the tender ships. When talking about benefiting the few at the cost of many, that is what the tendering process is now pushing for. Tendering cruise passengers is a thing of the past. It is for lack of a better phrase, outdated technology. The cruise ships don’t want to tender, all cruise development has been to berthing facilities.
It doesn’t take a lot of common sense to figure out that removing a 10 minute boat ride from the disembarkation process has to quicken the loading and offloading of the ships. Go downtown on any day and see how long those passengers are sitting out in the sun. We are the most affluent Caribbean Country and we have the absolute worst maritime facility and port experience. This is constantly the number one complaint of the cruisers when visiting. We are in the dark ages and this is the reason the cruiselines will start removing ships. If the dock is not built you can write GT off right now.
If you would have gone to the town hall meeting, they clearly stated the disembarkation time would Remain the same. So how is that reaching an objective? I was confused at that myself but they explained at the meeting that since customs can not clear more than one boat at a time that the other boats and passengers would have to wait their turn. Hence, the same time spent during offloading and on loading. I have personally spoke with cruise visitors and they actually are not for the dock once they hear of the details. In fact, they always speak against it when faced with the facts. These are facts based on research. We could make the process a lot better by improving on the existing system. It would actually be less expensive too. Most people when questioned state they enjoy the boat ride on the tenders. Not to mention preserving the environment. It is the cruise companies that are demanding a dock – not the passengers.
Now this is someone who has not only found a problem but a solution I fully agree with everything he said.
“I am confident if we had the fish numbers that were here in the 1980’s today we could certainly double the amount of tourism dollars, if not increase it by three or four times as much,” he told CNS.
He said it would attract not only more divers but the high spending divers who are looking for big reef fish and massive schools of fish. Recognizing the need to cut back on fishing dramatically to bring back marine life to the reefs, he has called for Caymanian-only fishing licences and a catch limited per person per day, as well as an outright ban on everything but line fishing on the reefs.