# **The OECS ports are very small when compared with most ports in Latin America and the**

**Caribbean.** On average, OECS ports are about 65,000 square meters, one-third the average across the Caribbean countries and between six and seven times smaller than the area of an average port in South America. Similarly, the average berth area of an OECS port is smaller than ports in any other region of the continent (table 4.1). The maximum lifting capacity is also very low, significantly limited by the available cranes that, when available, are all mobile.

# **Box 4.1 The Use of Spreaders versus Cables**

In modern port management, the use of spreaders for loading and unloading containers is typical. Automatic spreaders quickly adjust to the container size, and safely lock on to the container before lifting.

Cables are considerably less expensive than spreaders, but require an entire crew to attach, with one worker at each corner of the container. Because workers have to climb on top of the container to attach the cables, their use is inherently more hazardous, and also more labor intensive. Spreaders require only one operator—the crane operator. The worst danger of cables is the spreading of tension within a loaded container, especially with longer, 40-foot containers. Heavily loaded containers have split open while being lifted with cables in the OECS, resulting in the loss of cargo.

While one shipping line serving the OECS insists that spreaders are the only viable option, another operator expressed the opinion that in some circumstances, in tight areas with little space, cables may be more appropriate. But cables should be used only on smaller containers (no more than 20 feet) if loaded.

_Source:_ Authors’ compilation.

**Ports in St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, and Grenada do not feature onshore cranes, and only ships with their own cranes (“geared” vessels) can call on these ports.** Ship owners prefer using shore cranes over vessel cranes, since the number of containers that can be loaded and unloaded per hour is much higher using onshore cranes, and fewer crew gang members are needed. A fully functional mobile crane with an automatic spreader would require only a gang of two to four (box 4.1). In the OECS, TEUs per hour are higher with onshore cranes, as seen at Vieux Fort Port in St. Lucia, and at Campden Park in St. Vincent. But since the ports in St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, and Dominica do not have cranes, and the OECS islands are generally serviced as a set on the same route, geared vessels are generally needed. In ports where an onshore crane exists, the ship’s gear is usually not used.

**Except for Woodbridge Bay and St. George’s, expanding port capacity to accommodate more and bigger ships is not constrained by geography or location across the OECS (table 4.2).** The maximum length of ships has in many cases been expanded through the use of dolphins (concrete pillars rising out of the water beyond the pier, used to hold vessel lines) to dock cruise ships. Dolphins can be found along virtually all cruise piers (recently installed in the cargo Port of Basseterre, and as part of the main port structure in Campden Park), but they are not used for cargo ships. Deepening the channel and berths does not seem to be a problem except at Castries, Long Point, and St. John’s. The port in St. Vincent is a natural deep-water port and requires no maintenance dredging.

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