number of passenger calls, at 333 per year. This is most likely due to its position as the northernmost island in the OECS, which puts it closer to most cruise ships’ original ports of embarkation, such as Miami, Florida. Also, Antigua’s dedicated cruise terminal holds the highest number of vessels within the OECS, and has the most advanced cruise ship infrastructure. Although Grenada and St. Vincent together receive an important share of passenger vessel traffic, due to their location farther south, this share is still smaller. The Port of Long Point in Nevis receives the smallest number of vessel calls, perhaps because it is a relatively new port, established only in 1998. The port is still developing its infrastructure to attract more cruise tourism. Additionally, most of the cruise ships in St. Kitts and Nevis berth in the Port of Basseterre. The Port of Vieux Fort is dedicated to container transshipment and only gets the overflow of cruise ships calling Castries, which explains the smaller number of cruise calls (table 2.3).

**The Port of Woodbridge Bay in Dominica is the only OECS port to be experiencing a visible decline in passenger vessel calls—21 percent between 2008 and 2012.** This might be due to its underdeveloped dedicated cruise infrastructure. Dominica has a small dedicated pier for cruise ships in downtown Roseau, and also uses the Woodbridge Bay container port. Both piers, however, can hold only one ship at a time, and the cruise terminal does not have the same facilities as most other cruise terminals in the OECS. Combined, these factors may make these ports less attractive to cruise lines. Long Point in Nevis, on the other hand, has seen an increase in cruise traffic, but from a very low call level. Across the OECS as a whole, meanwhile, the flow of cruise ships has been stable despite regional economic difficulties and the global crisis.

**Table 2.2 Total Passenger Vessel Calls, 2008–12**

|**Port**|**2008**|**2009**|**2010**|**2011**|**2012**|**Change**<br>**Growth**<br>**(%)**|**AAGR**<br>**(%)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|St. John’s|317|367|304|328|333|+5|+2|
|Woodbridge Bay/Roseau|213|241|250|194|168|-21|-5|
|St. George’s|232|251|209|207|227|-2|0|
|Basseterre|204|234|172|305|267|+31|+13|
|LongPoint|27|19|25|34|31|+15|+7|
|Castries|132|385|334|286|266|+102|+39|
|Vieux Fort|0|0|4|4|2|-50|-25|
|Campden Park/Kingstown|172|164|132|139|173|+1|+1|
|**Total**|**1,297**|**1,661**|**1,430**|**1,497**|**1,467**|**+13**|**+4**|

_Source:_ Authors’ own elaboration on primary data. _Note:_ AAGR = average annual growth rate.

# **b. Container Traffic**

**OECS ports have finally recovered the level of container volume traffic that they had before the global economic crisis.** This has occurred despite a notable reduction in vessel calls. Shipping liners are using higher load factors on their vessels. Container traffic is a good indication of trade intensity and, as such, is a sign of recovery. Nowadays, nearly 95 percent of finished consumer goods are transported in containers. OECS members, like most islands in the Caribbean, are net importers. Imports include nearly every consumable, including most foodstuffs, and supplies for the resort and hotel industries.<sup>8</sup> The islands’

> 8 Beyond the regular consumables imported via the ports of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), container traffic also reflects ongoing construction and recovery projects. Traffic can rise over 20 percent during years of resort construction, or during hurricane recovery efforts.

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