A view of the cruise ship, 'Freedom of the Seas' at the Montego Freeport Cruise Terminal in August 2006. - File

Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

The Port Authority of Jamaica's (PAJ) planned upgrade of the Montego Bay Cruise Port announced two years ago has been readjusted upwards to US$67 million ($4.5 billion).

The development is to focus on building out the infrastructure for the commercial and cruise activities at the port which should be completed in the second quarter of 2009.

Initially, the project was billed as a US$40-million-investment.

Assistant vice-president, public relations at the PAJ, Pat Belinfanti, said the design work was under way.

Belinfanti said the construction contract award would be effected between February 2008 and April 2008, with construction scheduled for the period May 2008 to August 2009. The tendering process is yet to begin, however.

The job will involve "the separation of commercial and cruise activities, the construction and upgrading of three berths, two of which will accommodate cruise vessels of over one thousand feet in length," said Belinfanti.

Redesigned berths

The port of Montego Bay was built in the 1960s and consists of five primary berths, two of which are dedicated exclusively to cruise shipping. The construction of two additional berths will up the number of berths assigned to cruise activities to four.

Upgrading of the berths will entail the redesigning of berthing facilities - including extending two existing berths - and refurbishing work. There will be designated berths for tankers and for cargo as well, while some dredging - though minimal - will be carried out. Belinfanti said that the expansion would not include new cranes.

The second terminal building will be constructed to accommodate customs services, retail shopping, entertainment, sanitary conveniences in keeping with facilities at modern ports, and an extended trailer park to accom-modate 745 trailers and more open-storage space.

The design also makes provision for future expansion of the berthing and landside facilities.

The aim is to have at least six cruise vessels calling at the Mobay port at any given time. The new berths should accommodate megaships, he said.

Increased earnings

Jamaica has been reporting increased earnings in cruise ship arrivals, with some 141 non-cruise vessels calling at the Port of Montego Bay in 2006. Ocho Rios remains the dominant cruise port.

The Jamaica Tourist Board recorded gross foreign exchange earnings of US$1.4 billion for the period January-September in 2006, an increase of 24.6 per cent over the same period in 2005 from cruise-ship arrivals. In 2006, there were only 7,484 container moves at the MoBay port all involving roll on-roll off-type container vessels.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com