In 1948-49 Sir Douglas Richie, M.C. Vice-Chairman, of the Port of London Authority Published "Report on the Proposed Construction of a Deep Water Wharf" with a proposal of a £3,000,000 port facility for Barbados.[9] Construction of the Deep Water Harbour began in 1956 by Costain Group of Britain,[10] and cost EC$28,000,000 through completion in 1961. The port was formed by creating a man-made isthmus across the shallow strait that existed off the coast of Fontabelle, St. Michael. The isthmus formed 90 acres of new land stretching from the original west coast of Barbados, out to a small uninhabited, ex-quarantine island just offshore, named Pelican Island. After the initial completion, the harbour later underwent a $22 million expansion seventeen years later.[4]
In 2002, Barbados Port Inc. contracted with Jan De Nul Group of Companies of Belgium to carry out dredging at the port facility. The dredging was deemed necessary to allow some of the world's largest cruise ships to berth in Barbados rather than anchoring offshore. The project followed a rigorous environmental monitoring programme by the Barbados Port Inc. along with key regulatory agencies, namely the Town Planning Department, the Coastal Zone Management Unit, the Environmental Engineering Division and the University of the West Indies' Natural Resources Management Programme to ensure that the oceanographic and sediment processes, the water quality, and the marine communities were not compromised in any way.[11] During this operation, the port's depth was increased to 11.6 metres (from 9.6 metres). Reclaimed material from the dredging was added to increase the port's cargo area by 9 acres.[12]
In December 2008, Minister of International Transport George Hutson announced that due to congestion between cargo and passenger ships at the Deep Water Harbour, the country needed to look at expansion at the facility following the last upgrade undertaken in 2002.[13] Due to the importance of Tourism to Barbados' economy, the government is presently reviewing a further $70 million upgrade.[14]
In September 2010, the Barbados government stated it was reviewing a list of joint-venture partners to construct the new cruise ship facilities at the port with expected construction to begin in 2011.[15]
Due to increased activity at the port, officials say it is poised to become a "super-hub of the southern Caribbean", rivalling Puerto Rico.[16][17][18]
In 2012, the Government of Barbados announced [19] the desire to establish a new separate Cruise terminal just to south along the Princess Alice Highway.[20][21][22] As advisors to the Government, Royal Caribbean and STI were selected to work with the government [23][24] on the project to be called The Sugar Point Cruise Development[25] or The Sugar Point Cruise Terminal. The facility will function as a means to separate cruise-traffic to the country from the containerised-traffic which will remain at the Deep Water Harbour. The move should help to mitigate delays which effect container-ships to Bridgetown which at times must have idle offshore for Cruise ships to make available a berth as cruise ships are given preference at the Harbour.[26] The first phase of the new terminal is expected to cost in the region of BDS$300 million, and dredge work is planned by the administration to begin in November 2012.[27]
It has been awarded the title of "Caribbean Port of the Year" for: 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998; the "Best Multi-Purpose Terminal (Container terminal)" in 2004 and 2005;[35] the safest port in the Caribbean region in 2011.[36][37] Top-Rated Southern Caribbean Destinations 2016 & 2017[38]
The Deep-Water Harbour now acts as a home port for many of the British-based Cruise ship lines operating in the Caribbean region. Some of the Cruise Lines which visit or are home ported at the Deep Water Harbour include:[41]
^T, C (October 25, 2006). "Barbados 'best home port'". Nation Newspaper. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2009. Barbados has at times been billed the largest and most active cruise line home port in the world. And Barbadians are fast becoming the beneficiaries of this growing multi-million-dollar industry. That was the word from Minister of Tourism Noel Lynch, as Barbados prepares to host 18 home-porting cruise ships during the coming winter tourist season. Lynch made these disclosures during a Press conference yesterday at the Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC 29) taking place at the Westin and Sheraton Grand Bahama Lucaya Resort, Grand Bahama Island. "We will be having just about 17 or 18 ships turning in Barbados as a home port. And what will be happening in 2008 is that P&O Cruise Line (Pacific and Orient) is gearing up to bring an even larger ship to Barbados. Home porting contributes significantly to our numbers and to the economy. These ships cause people to be surprised about the level of provisioning that is done locally and the level of service which goes into these ships," he said.
^Applewhaite, Gillian (October 10, 2009), "Barbados PM discusses growth of cruise business with Carnival CEO", CaribbeanNetNews.com, Cayman Islands, BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (BGIS)—Barbados is considered central to Carnival PLC's developing cruise business, with three ships, Ventura, Oceana and Artemis, expected to home port in Bridgetown this winter season. This number should increase to four from winter 2010, when the new luxury ship Azura is launched. Chief Executive of Carnival UK, David Dingle, made this known during a meeting with Prime Minister David Thompson in Great Britain earlier this week. Describing the meeting as "very productive", Thompson said it was clear that Carnival UK saw Barbados as a key partner in the development of its cruise business within the Caribbean.
^B., J. M. (January 25, 2011). "Forecast looking good for passenger growth". The Barbados Advocate. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2011. "Our thrust is to take the number of cruise passengers from 700,000 to 1.2 million per year. A significant percentage of these will be part of the Air/Sea and Stay/Cruise programs. Existing facilities at GAIA are already stressed to handle passenger volumes during the 12 to 4 p.m. period. The new focus of developing the air/sea program will necessitate a suitable review of the airport plant and no doubt this will be addressed in by the master plan," he said.
^Healy, Mike (1961). "Deep Water at Bridgetown (1961)" (Film). London, U.K.: Film by Richard Costain Ltd. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2020. Deep Water at Bridgetown: Tells the story of the construction of a new deep water harbour and shows its effect on the economic and social life of a Caribbean island.
^T, C (December 24, 2008). "Port call". Nation Newspaper. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2009. MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT George Hutson yesterday expressed concern about increasing congestion at the Bridgetown Port. "Right now the cruise ships get priority and the cargo ships have to wait, but we are hoping to expand the facilities to be able to accommodate larger vessels," the minister said at a ceremony marking the inaugural visit of the Queen Victoria. "If we can get a couple of larger berths, it would create more space in the deep water harbour, and we would be able also accommodate larger ships and also offload cargo vessels while cruise ships are in port," he added. The 13-deck Queen Victoria was one of three cruise ships docking at the Bridgetown Port yesterday, the others being Ocean Village and Caribbean Princess.
^H., J. (December 27, 2010). "High hopes for Port". The Barbados Advocate. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2010. THERE is an emerging belief that Barbados' port will become a super-hub in the South, mirroring the cruise activities of Puerto Rico in the North. So says Chairman of the Barbados Port Inc., David Harding, who stressed that the management team is committed to making Barbados the number one port in the Caribbean.
^Bynoe, Kenmore (December 26, 2010). "Close to 7 000 cruisers". Nation Newspaper. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2010. In welcoming the crew of the Queen Elizabeth, on its inaugural trip, Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy expressed joy and pride that Barbados was able to accommodate the largest vessels in the world without having to use the method of years ago, where ships berthed offshore and passengers were ferried to port.
^Bynoe, Kenmore (December 27, 2010). "Queen comes to port". Nation Newspaper. Archived from the original on December 31, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2010. Barbados' bid to become the No. 1 cruise destination in the Southern Caribbean made a gigantic splash in the right direction when one of the largest cruise ships, the Queen Elizabeth, sailed into the Bridgetown Port at dawn yesterday morning.
^NewsRoom, Citi (November 16, 2019). "Ghana, Barbados sign agreement to establish sister Port relationship". General News. Adentan, Accra: Modern Ghana. Retrieved November 16, 2019. Ghana and Barbados today, [November 15, 2019] signed an agreement to establish a sister-port relationship between the Tema and Bridgetown, to facilitate the expansion of trade between the two countries, especially trade transiting through Barbados from Ghana and onward to other Caribbean and Latin America destination ports. The agreement was signed at the Jubilee House, when the Prime Minister of Barbados, Her Excellency Mia Mottley, paid a courtesy call on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as part of her official visit to Ghana.{{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
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