THE PORT of Kingston handled 895,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in the year 2000, representing an increase of 26.1 per cent over 1999, which registered 709,442 TEUs, Jamaica's latest port statistical report has indicated.
The report, which is produced by the Port Authority of Jamaica said the performance of Port Bustamante and in particular, the container port, was the high point of the maritime and shipping industry in the year 2000.
It said performance must be viewed in the context that while the containerised traffic of the Central American Atlantic Region grew at a rate of approximately two per cent per annum over the last five years, the Caribbean Region also grew but at a declining rate.
Ship traffic
The report outlined that there was a 6.7 per cent increase in ship traffic at the Port of Kingston. This was attributed to a 13. 3 per cent increase in container carriers and a six per cent increase in bulk carriers and together they offset the decline in general cargo and other types of vessels. At the outports, most of which recorded some measure of growth, the number of ship calls increased by 3.7 per cent, moving from 1,201 in 1999 to 1,245 in the review year.
Cargo
The volume of domestic cargo handled at the Kingston Public Wharves increased by 2.76 per cent. The Sufferance Wharves recorded a percentage growth of eight per cent as the figure moved from 2,424,300 in 1999 to 2,615,300 tonnes in 2000. Export over these wharves were very encouraging with the volume moving from 219, 200 tonnes a year ago to 337,000 tonnes in year 2000, the document said.
Activity at the Container Port was mixed. Both Transship-ment and other moves grew by 35 per cent and 68 per cent respectively, while domestic moves declined by 6.9 per cent.
Like the previous year, total activity at the outports, where the bulk of the traditional exports are handled, was down by approximately 10 per cent. The low level of performance was influenced by a 24.1 per cent decline in bauxite export to the Gramercy market, which was the scene of an accident about a year ago. There were also declines in the other traditional exports such as alumina, sugar and banana.
Cruise passengers
The number of cruise ship passengers to the Island was 907,600 compared to 764, 600 in 1999. Once again, Ocho Rios with a 23.2 per cent increase in visitor arrivals was the main contributor to this total, the report said.
