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SCASPA says Tugboat not the cause
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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| Mr. Errol Douglas, GM/C.E.O. of SCASPA |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS- REPRESENTATIVES of the St. Christopher Air and Sea Port Authority (SCASPA) and the St. Kitts Tourism Authority declared on Monday, February 18th, that the cruise vessel Crown Princess was unable to berth that morning due to “high winds”.
The combined statement came after much talk in the press that the recent rise in cruise ships being unable to berth at or leave Port Zante was due in large part to St. Kitts’ tug boat, ITCO, undergoing repairs.
Nigel Herbert, Senior Marine Pilot for SCASPA, stated that Port Zante is “susceptible to a number of elements… that you may not be able to see from a layman’s point of view such as wind, current, drift and the characteristics of the ship.”
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| Mr. Nigel Herbert, Senior Marine Pilot of SCASPA |
He insisted that these factors were the reason why the Crown Princess could not make port.
Anderson Dolphin, Deputy Senior Marine Pilot for SCASPA, continued on saying that the presence of a tug boat would make no difference in the berthing of a ship when certain weather conditions are present.
“Ships can normally berth with winds of twenty-five knots at their broadside. This morning, we had winds up to thirty-five knots. The ship would not have been able to hold up in thirty-five knots wind,” he explained. “It would have been too risky.”
Dolphin also stated that the captain of the Crown Princess made no request for a tug because he was in agreement that a berthing attempt would have been ill-advised due to the winds.
Errol Douglas, General Manager and C.E.O. of SCASPA, said “It is important for us and critical that we look at the overall sustainability of the product and services that we offer.”
Many businesses that depend upon the cruise passengers, such as tour operators and taxi drivers, expressed great concern over the lost revenue due to Monday’s events.
Douglas stated that the two ships that had been unable to berth this cruise season had not adversely affected St. Kitts’ relationship with Carnival Cruise Lines as much as a damaged vessel or pier would have. ~~Adz:Left~~
“Obviously [the situation] is not something that Carnival would cherish,” Douglas said. “Of course there will be a concern because it is lost revenue… but that is something we have to manage.”
Despite the Tourism Authority projecting an increase of nearly 175,000 cruise ship visitors to St. Kitts in the 2007-08 versus the 2006-07 season, those who make their living in the tourism industry have said that even one missed opportunity makes a big difference to their pockets at the end of the day.
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