New Cargo Port Business Case Outlined

By Stuart Wilson

Consultation meetings for a new cargo port facility in the Cayman Islands were held on Wednesday 31st July and Thursday 1st August at the Compass Vault.

Members of the public in attendance and those streaming online were briefed on the plans for the new port, which have identified 12 possible sites for the new port that organisers said would serve the Islands for decades to come and would require approximately 40 acres of land.

Selecting a location from the options and the concept layout for the new port facility were the main objectives of the public consultation.  

Tourism and Ports Minister Kenneth Bryan said the decision to move forward with the new cargo port facility requires the public’s contribution to inform the decision-making process on recommended options.

The business case to the public for the project was led by sector lead for ports and marine terminals at consultancy firm Stantec, Mr. Harold Westerman, who said his firm is also working on port updates in the Bahamas, Montseratt and St. Vincent.

Regarding the proposals for Cayman’s port upgrade, he said the current port had served the British Territory for the past 50 years and that an upgrade was due because among other things, there is a conflict with cruise operations.

“Space limitations and traffic congestions have meant that the existing George Town Port and Cargo Distribution Center (CDC) is at or near capacity, resulting in significant delays, double handling and demurrage,” (failure to load or discharge the ship within the time agreed).

However Mr. Westerman acknowledged that despite the severity of these infrastructural limitations, the Port and CDC are functioning well in Cayman.

He added that even if cruise traffic was relocated and the port expanded in its current location, the port would still be constrained and likely restricted to night time cargo and as a result, a new port outside George Town should be considered.

“A new port or major expansion of an existing port, generally requires 10 to 15 years to complete master planning, regulatory approvals, financing, design, tendering and construction,” he explained.

The long-term time horizon for the new port is 2084, which comfortably allows 10 to 15 years for implementing the new port, in addition to 45 to 50 years of operating capacity, whilst the short-term horizon is 2039.

The short-term horizon allows for 5 years to implement upgrades to the existing port and 10 years of operating capacity.

The 100 year outlook is that land would be allocated for expansion beyond 2084 if necessary.

Cargo projections for 2039 and 2084 will generally correspond to population and GDP growth, which is the norm in port planning, according to the Stantec consultant, who explained that the numbers that were factored into these considerations were provided courtesy of the Cayman Islands Economics and Statistics Office 2026, the Airport Upgrade Study 2041 and the National Roads Authority Charette 2074.

With the numbers applied to Stantec’s formula, Mr. Westerman said Cayman’s population could reach 250,000 somewhere between 2070 and and 2080.

Concept plans for the new port based on the 2084 projections and vessel forecasts outline that aggregates will continue to be offloaded and removed rom the new port immediately, whilst gasoline, diesel, het fuel and LPG will continue to be imported through the existing Rubis, Home Gas and Sol facilities.

The number of berths needed for the new port will be based on the maximum berth occupancy of 65 percent to avoid congestion and the length of the wharf will be based on 1 average length container ship, 1 average length aggregate ship and 1 largest ship for either containers or aggregate.

The shipping channel width and turning basin diameter for the new port is based on the largest vessels and design guidelines by the World Association of Waterborne Transportation Infrastructure.

The proposed port would require massive dredging in most of the locations identified, as there would need to be a 40 ft deep turning basin for the ships, that would stretch 325 ft, along with a 2 mile channel.

As part of the consideration for the new port, it was also noted that industry would likely follow the location of the facility and more development of the area would be seen.

However dredging and the use of east west arterial as the predominant means of transport, cutting off coastal roads was a concern for the public.

Environmental concerns included the potential effect on known habitats and species, as well as water pollution, and disturbance and/or obscuration of the Islands’s natural aesthetic.

There is currently no cost estimate for the new port, according to officials, who said the current port would reach its maximum capacity by 2030, at which time there would be rough 134,000 people living on the Island of Grand Cayman.

Concerned citizens said population growth should be controlled and not be allowed to increased unbridled and expressed dismay at the possibility of fisheries and the environment being destroyed.

In addition, some said that the lack of information regarding the cost of the new cargo port was not a good starting point.