By Denise Clarke, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE CRUISE ship pier in Montego Bay will undergo major upgrading over the next few months, in preparation for the arrival of two new ships this fall. General manager in charge of cruise shipping at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), William Tatham, said the work is part of the effort to establish Montego Bay as a home-port destination, and will include dredging of the Montego Bay harbour to accommodate larger vessels.
"The dredge, presently in the Kingston harbour, will be moving over to Montego Bay as soon as it is finished," said Mr. Tatham. "They are going to be dredging it for depth, and to widen the turning base at the pier."
Mr. Tatham told The Gleaner that the Port Authority has committed to completing the work during the summer, months ahead of the scheduled arrival of the Arosa Blu from Princess Cruise Line and the Carnival-Conquest from the Carnival Cruise line in the fall. The German-based Arosa Blu is scheduled to begin homeporting in Montego Bay this November. The expansion of the terminal building at the pier, he said, will be undertaken at a later date.
"It is something we have been pursuing very heavily in our bid for a turn-around market or home-port. We are consulting with the cruise lines and looking at what can be done concerning the terminal and the berth, where are the ships going to be put, and examining the future of cruise shipping in Montego Bay," Mr. Tatham explained. "We want to see what are they looking for, what does a home-port needs versus a port of call, and how are we going to handle say more than one home-port at a time, if we were to get two vessels on a home-port day."
He was responding to statements by the Chairman of the Jamaica Cruise Shipping Association, Lee Bailey, in which he claimed that the cruise shipping industry in Montego Bay is in trouble. In a release to the media last week, Mr. Bailey said Montego Bay has been crying out for years for an extension of its pier in order to take mega-liners, and faces the danger of losing the last ship if the pier is not dredged and the channel dealt with.
Mr. Tatham reaffirmed the commitment of the JTB and the Port Authority to the development of the industry in Montego Bay. "These are things that are well advanced and well under way... none of cruise lines have raised concerns to me, and we they have all been consulted on this project," he said.
