# **<u>Table 4.3 Qualitative Description of Six OECS Members’ Port Infrastructure</u>**

## **Antigua**

- Port of St. John’s is located northwest of the center of St. John’s city within a protected harbor area.

- Facilities: main cargo in St. John’s; cruise ships and ferries in Heritage Quay and Redcliff Quay.

- Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority oversees all port facilities.

- Layout from the break-bulk era, with a large warehouse occupying 125 meters of the main quay.

- Land footprint large relative to throughput.

- Warehouse is one of the largest in operation in the OECS.

- Warehouse operations do not recover costs.

- Main vessel lines calling include Tropical Shipping, CMA-CGM, and Seabourne, with Geest Line playing a smaller and declining role.

## **Dominica**

- Port of Roseau located 1.4 miles from the center of Roseau, the capital city.

- The Port of Woodbridge Bay is generally unprotected and has been damaged several times by hurricanes.

- Facilities: cargo in Woodbridge Bay; cruise terminal and ferries in the center of Roseau.

- Dominican Air and Sea Port Authority oversees all ports and airport facilities.

- Layout from the break-bulk era, built in 1976 over a concrete pier resting on pylons.

- The port has no cranes, and operates with two reach stackers.

- The port is in danger of losing 150 meters or up to the entire length of the pier due to deteriorated pylons.

- Main vessel lines calling include Tropical Shipping, CMA CGM, King Ocean, and Geest Line.

## **Grenada**

- Port of St. George’s located in the center of the town of St. George’s.

- Layout from the break-bulk era, with a cargo shed on the pier close to the quayside.

- Operations (except for car imports) are lo-lo (lift on/lift off containers); there is very little break bulk.

- Ro-ro operations (cargo rolling in and out from vessels) are constrained by limited space and problems related to storage.

- Main vessel lines calling include Tropical Shipping and Sea Freight (bringing in ZIM containers), with Geest Line also present.

- Considered the most-expensive and challenged port in the OECS.

## **St. Kitts and Nevis**

- Port of Basseterre on St. Kitts island; Port of Long Point on Nevis island.

- St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority oversees port activities in St. Kitts.

- Nevis Air and Sea Ports Authority oversees port activities in Nevis.

- Basseterre handles mostly container traffic. Cruise facilities are able to hold up to two cruise ships, and ferry facilities also present.

- Long Point handles container ro-ro traffic and ferry traffic.

- Layout and functioning processes from the break-bulk era; warehouse/shed occupy a good portion of the main berth space.

- Basseterre pier stems from 1982, and the surface has now deteriorated to the point that some large reinvestments are needed.

- There are no cranes. Therefore the port is entirely reliant on geared vessels and container ro-ro operations.

- Basseterre port uses two reach stackers for management of containers, and reports using spreaders, rather than cables, for lo-lo operations.

- Stevedores hired directly by the shipping line’s agents—Long Point one of the few OECS ports with no labor unions.

- Cruise infrastructure insufficient to handle traffic. Cargo port used as a third berth, creating scheduling conflicts with cargo-passenger traffic.

- Main vessel lines calling include Tropical Shipping, King Ocean, CMA-CGM, and Geest Line, with the frequency of Geest declining.

## **St. Lucia**

- Two main ports: Castries in capital city, and Vieux Fort in the south.

- St. Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority oversees all port facilities.

- Castries is a multipurpose facility with six berths (with the cruise and ferry terminal Point Seraphine).

- Harbor of Castries naturally protected.

- Castries’ layout from the break-bulk era, with main shed/warehouse occupying valuable space along the pier.

- Castries River deposits silt in the port, creating need for periodic dredging.

- Vieux Fort layout modern and adjusted to container activity. Only transshipment OECS port: 85 percent of throughput due to transshipment.

- Vieux Fort has an old and unreliable crane. Crane broke down in 2012 creating important loss of business for Trinidad and Tobago.

## **St. Vincent and the Grenadines**

- Kingstown/Campden area with two big terminals: original Port of Kingstown (break-bulk facility) and Campden Park (container port).

- Port is a natural deep-water port, requiring no maintenance dredging.

- Kingstown facilities are 50 years old, with a design life of 30 years.

- Kingstown facilities showing structural issues; an unfinished portion of the pier is in danger of collapsing.

- Campden Park Container Terminal built in 1992, but became operational in 2007.

- Container terminal features a high-capacity crane (100+ tonne-capacity Gottwald HMK 6406 mobile crane) and 20 reefer points.

- Campden Park has only one berth and services one ship at a time. Cannot operate as a substitute for Kingstown due to lack of berth space.

- Congestion in Kingstown a concern. There are potential plans to relocate the port. It could be shut down if Campden Park had more capacity.

- Geest Line is the regular carrier bringing both containers and break bulk to the port.

_Source:_ Authors’ compilation. _Note:_ OECS = Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.

28