Carnival Cruise Line said its $170 million cruise port development on Grand Bahama is expected to provide more than 1,680 Bahamian jobs annually and add more than $1.5 billion to The Bahamas’ gross domestic product (GDP) over a 23-year period.
The cruise company made its economic impact assessment (EIA) and environmental management plan (EMP) available to the public last week, which found that the project would result in $647 million in earned income in The Bahamas and increase government revenues by $363 million, both over a 23-year period. CCL said that revenue to the government would outweigh concessions – estimated at $94.8 million – by a factor of 3.8 percent.
The project, temporarily called Grand Port until a branding name is determined, calls for the creation of 706 new Bahamian jobs during the development phase, which was initially supposed to begin in 2019, but was delayed twice because of Hurricane Dorian and then the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During an extremely challenging two years,
Carnival never stopped working to make our ‘Grand Port’ vision a reality. Through the tumultuous aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, which caused considerable damage to Grand Bahama and in the face of a COVID-19 pandemic that brought the cruise industry to a standstill for more than a year, Carnival’s firm commitment to this groundbreaking project never diminished,” CCL stated in its EIA/EMP document.
“Nor has Carnival wavered in its dedication to ensuring that the ‘Grand Port’, the largest purpose-built cruise port ever built in The Bahamas and one of the largest in the world, will create as many meaningful employment and business opportunities for Grand Bahama and the wider Bahamian community as possible.”
The government signed a heads of agreement with Carnival Corporation for the project in September 2019.
CCL said once completed, the Grand Port would result in on average an additional 40 calls on Freeport annually and an estimated 500,000 cruise passengers annually.
“The proposed project includes plans for more than 250 calls by 2025, a 26 percent increase from current levels. The new and expanded port facilities will also be capable of accommodating larger ships than the current port,” the EIA/EMP document states.
“With the expanded port facilities, the total volume of cruise passengers arriving to Grand Bahama Island will increase significantly. In 2019, Carnival brand ships brought nearly 500,000 passengers to Grand Bahama Island and plans include boosting this volume to one million by 2025, a 100 percent increase over current levels. Along with more volume of cruise passengers and on-shore visitor spending, which supports Bahamian jobs and income. By 2025, new, incremental on-shore spending is expected to amount to more than B$68 million over the baseline forecast.”
The forecasts were made under the assumption that development would have begun in 2019 and therefore the time frame for projection would be different now, given that construction on the project has not commenced.
The proposed Grand Port project includes construction of a two-berth port facility capable of accommodating up to two Super-Post Panamax ships at a time, with up to 6,000 passengers each, the EIA/EMP document states.
Construction was estimated to take approximately three years and include road construction, maritime and landside engineering, dredging, the development of utilities and electrical infrastructure and the construction of passenger and employee structures and amenities. CCL estimated that 65 percent of total construction costs would be spent locally.
Additionally, the new port facilities would include retail and food and beverage spaces that offer a “uniquely Bahamian” experience utilizing local brands. CCL stated these locations would provide approximately 500 new jobs.
“The various dining options are expected to provide up to 10,000 meals within a two-hour time frame and will be located throughout the property to avoid congestion. These retail and dining locales are expected to employ up to 500 workers,” CCL stated.
“Recreational offerings will include beach activities, water-based shore excursions and transportation into Freeport. Other amenities will include interior lagoons and walking and biking trails.”
Carnival said in its EIA that it is committed to developing the Grand Port in a sustainable and responsible manner, meeting or exceeding all applicable environmental standards while preserving a 100-acre wetland conservation area and a 55-acre nature path.
In February this year, Carnival Corporation Senior Vice President of Global Port & Destination Development Giora Israel said the corporation was still awaiting permit approvals from the Ministry of the Environment to begin development.
A month later, Minister of the Environment and Housing Romauld Ferreira said the government would not issue environmental permits to cruise ships that are not in compliance with the laws of The Bahamas.
In 2019 a South Florida court-appointed monitor revealed that a Carnival Corporation cruise ship discharged nearly half a million gallons of treated sewage in Bahamian waters.
It was also revealed that another ship, the Carnival Sunrise, discharged a considerable amount of rust into Nassau Harbour.
Carnival admitted in June 2019 to six violations of its environmental compliance plan, one of which involved one of its ships dumping plastic and food waste in Bahamian waters.
Ferreira has said there is no way the cruise ship industry can be called environmentally sustainable and friendly.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/details-of-carnival-cruise-port-project-revealed-in-eia-emp-document/
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