By Floyd French
Observer Reporter
(Basseterre, St. Kitts) – St. Christopher Air and Sea Port Authority (SCASPA) officials said that it would have been too risky, even with a tugboat, for the Crown Princess cruise ship to berth on the morning of Feb. 18. They stated their position that same afternoon, after weeks of criticism over previous instances in which ships were unable to berth or leave port due to adverse weather conditions.
According to Deputy Senior Marine Pilot, Anderson Dolphin, normal berthing is considered favourable in wind speed up to 25 knots. On Monday morning, the wind speed was 35 knots so the ship’s captain and SCASPA officials decided not to attempt berthing.
But that decision reignited the controversies over the Carnival Destiny’s inability to berth on Jan. 24 and the late departure of Galaxy from port on Feb. 13, also due to weather conditions.
The weather conditions and the open nature of the Basseterre port prevented the two ships from berthing and made the other stranded, unable to leave the port for two hours. SCASPA’s Senior Marine Pilot, Mr. Nigel Herbert, explained that factors such as wind speed, current and drift, visibility and the characteristics of the ship must be taken into consideration for successful berthing.
SCASPA officials blame the open nature of Port Zante for the missed ship calls and the delayed departure of one ship. A natural harbour is a sheltered body of water deep enough for ships to anchor. Porte Zante is not sheltered enough to mitigate severe weather conditions.
Despite insistence from critics, SCASPA said a tugboat would not have helped in the berthing in those instances. SCASPA indicated that the late departure of the Galaxy was due to wind speed of 40 knots that kept the ship in port for over two hours longer than expected.
Mr. Dolphin explained that the capabilities of modern cruise ship give them their own tug capacity. He said the cruise ship Carnival Destiny has over three times the tug capacity of the 2,000 horse power local ITCO Tugboat. Mr. Dolphin said preventing damage to ship or pier and preserving life were the guiding principles for not allowing the ships to attempt berthing under those conditions.
SCASPA also indicated that those decisions were taken after discussions with the ships’ captains.
General Manager of SCASPA, Mr. Errol Douglas, said he spoke to Carnival Cruise Line on the two occasions its ships were unable to berth. He indicated that Carnival Cruise Line also felt that a tugboat would not have been necessary under those conditions and the company did not want to risk damage or loss of life.
Mr. Douglas also maintained that the public should be cognizant of the key term, sustainability, often used in the country’s tourism promotion. He summed that up by suggesting that a damaged pier would be more costly to the stakeholders and the country as a whole than ships missing calls due to adverse whether conditions.
Ministry of Tourism representative, Ms. Danielle Taylor, said that the missed calls might not have a huge impact on the overall projected healthy cruise ship season. She said the total number of visitors last year was 225,273, over 12,000 more visitors than projected. She stressed that this season’s projection of over 400,000 visitors can still be a reality due to unpredictable conditions that might force ships not to call at other ports and then include St. Kitts to compensate.
