Antigua & Barbuda’s Cruise Official Relays Berthing Concerns

Legislators of Antigua & Barbuda could soon be looking at corrective measures to address berthing concerns at harbors in St John’s. President of Antigua & Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association Nathan Dundas said cruise liners have complained about the depth of the water in certain areas.

“We cannot put a large vessel on the north side of Nevis Street because of the depth and of course … pilots who have to maneuver any of the ships here… have totally refused to put any large vessels over eight meters on the side of the pier,” he said.

Dundas is however confident that Antigua & Barbuda would not be affected, as the Costa Cruise Lines reorganizes schedules to fill the gap left following destruction of one of its newest vessels in Italian waters, last week.

“I strongly believe that the market is very good for them,” he said. “The passengers feel very safe in our waters during the winter period and that is the reason why the ships come here. So I don’t think that they are going to look to affect that market.

“Their biggest market in Europe is usually during the summer period, so of course, the winter season that they have the ships coming here … to me would be a very lucrative market for them,” he added. Dundas also expressed condolences to the people who have lost loved ones in the accident.

“Costa Cruise is one … that has a very good safety track record here in the Caribbean and we look forward to many more calls coming from this cruise line,” Dundas said. “We know at this time we are going to be very busy … trying to get reorganized to take care of the insurance matters.

“Loss of life and property are very important (matters) especially in the maritime industry, so we expect that they will be very busy putting those things together.”