The Port of Bridgetown (officially the Deep Water Harbour),
(
UN/LOCODE
UN/LOCODE, the United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations, is a geographic coding scheme developed and maintained by United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). UN/LOCODE assigns codes to locations used in trade and transpor ...
: BB BGI, Port
Callsign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
: 8PB) is a
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
in
Bridgetown
Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...
on the southwest coast of Barbados. Situated at the North-Western end of
Carlisle Bay
Carlisle Bay is a small natural harbour located in the southwest region of Barbados. The island nation's capital, Bridgetown, is situated on this bay which has been turned into a marine park. Carlisle Bay's marine park is a popular spot on the ...
, the harbour handles all of the country's international bulk
ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
-based
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
and
commerce
Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
. In addition to international-shipping the Deep Water Harbour is the
port of entry
In general, a port of entry (POE) is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has border security staff and facilities to check passports and visas and to inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. Internati ...
for southern-
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s. The port is one of three designated ports of entry in Barbados, along with the privately owned
Port Saint Charles
The Port St. Charles marina is a luxury marina development situated on the western coast of Barbados. Found within the parish of Saint Peter, the marina is in Heywoods and is in close proximity to Speightstown. The Port St. Charles marina cont ...
marina and the
Sir Grantley Adams International Airport. The port's time zone is
GMT
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...
−4, and it handles roughly 700,000 cruise passengers and 900,000 tonnes of
containerised
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pro ...
cargo per year.
History
Construction of the Deep Water Harbour began in 1956 by
Costain Group
Costain Group plc is a British construction and engineering company headquartered in Maidenhead, England. Founded in 1865, its history includes extensive housebuilding and mining activities, but it later focused on civil engineering and commerci ...
of Britain, and cost
EC$28,000,000 through completion in 1961. The port was formed by creating a man-made
isthmus
An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...
across the shallow
strait
A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...
that existed off the coast of
Fontabelle, St. Michael. The isthmus formed 90
acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
s of new land stretching from the original west coast of Barbados, out to a small uninhabited, ex-quarantine island just offshore, named
Pelican Island. After the initial completion, the harbour later underwent a $22 million expansion seventeen years later.
[CHAPTER 67A DEEP WATER HARBOUR (EXPANSION AND IMPROVEMENT)](_blank)
- Prior expansion 1978
In 2002, Barbados Port Inc. contracted with
Jan De Nul Group of Companies of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
to carry out
dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
at the port facility. The dredging was deemed necessary to allow some of the world's largest cruise ships to
berth in Barbados rather than anchoring offshore. The project followed a rigorous environmental monitoring programme by the Barbados Port Inc. along with key regulatory agencies, namely the Town Planning Department, the Coastal Zone Management Unit, the Environmental Engineering Division and the
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...
' Natural Resources Management Programme to ensure that the oceanographic and sediment processes, the water quality, and the marine communities were not compromised in any way. During this operation, the port's depth was increased to 11.6 metres (from 9.6 metres). Reclaimed material from the dredging was added to increase the port's cargo area by 9 acres.
In December 2008, Minister of International Transport George Hutson announced that due to congestion between cargo and passenger ships at the Deep Water Harbour, the country needed to look at expansion at the facility following the last upgrade undertaken in 2002. Due to the importance of Tourism to Barbados' economy, the government is presently reviewing a further $70 million upgrade.
In September 2010, the Barbados government stated it was reviewing a list of joint-venture partners to construct the new cruise ship facilities at the port with expected construction to begin in 2011.
Due to increased activity at the port, officials say it is poised to become a "super-hub of the southern Caribbean", rivalling
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.
In 2012, the Government of Barbados announced the desire to establish a new separate Cruise terminal just to south along the Princess Alice Highway. As advisors to the Government, Royal Caribbean and STI were selected to work with the government on the project to be called ''The Sugar Point Cruise Development'' or ''The Sugar Point Cruise Terminal.'' The facility will function as a means to separate cruise-traffic to the country from the containerised-traffic which will remain at the Deep Water Harbour. The move should help to mitigate delays which effect container-ships to Bridgetown which at times must have idle offshore for Cruise ships to make available a berth as cruise ships are given preference at the Harbour. The first phase of the new terminal is expected to cost in the region of BDS$300 million, and dredge work is planned by the administration to begin in November 2012.
Administration
Responsibility for administering the port is vested in the
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Barbados Port Incorporated (BPI), as a ISO (9001:2015) Certified Company BPI is
statutory corporation
A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...
that oversees all matters affecting the efficient operations of the harbour facility. The company also advises the Ministry of International Business and International Transport who has ultimate authority for the Deep Water Harbour. Barbados Port Inc. is a member of: the
American Association of Port Authorities
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) is a trade association founded in 1912 that represents 150 port authorities in the Western Hemisphere, including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
Headquartered in Wa ...
, the
Caribbean Shipping Association
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and So ...
(CSA), the Port Management Association of the Caribbean (P.M.A.C.),
[Barbados Port Inc.](_blank)
, Port Management Association of the Caribbean, P.M.A.C. the
Shipping Association of Barbados
The Shipping Association of Barbados (SAB) is the national shipping institution of Barbados with its headquarters in Bridgetown. Formed in January 1981, the association consists primarily of ship members and stevedore companies who meet on a mont ...
(SAB), and an affiliate of the
Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI).
It has been awarded the title of "Caribbean Port of the Year" for: 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998; the "Best Multi-Purpose Terminal (Container terminal)" in 2004 and 2005; the safest port in the Caribbean region in 2011. Top-Rated Southern Caribbean Destinations 2016 & 2017
Shipping
Summary of Annual Operations 2011-2020
Trade
Top trading partners:
Imports: consumer goods, machinery, foodstuffs, construction materials, chemicals, fuel, electrical components
;Top import sources (2009):
;*Trinidad and Tobago – 28.52%,
;*United States of America – 27.96%,
;*Colombia – 7.13%,
;*China – 4.76%,
;*United Kingdom – 4.39%
Exports: manufactures, sugar and molasses, cotton, rum, other foods and beverages, chemicals, light manufacturing, electrical components
;Top export destinations (2009):
;*Trinidad and Tobago – 17.48%,
;*Jamaica – 15.63%,
;*United States of America – 8.93%,
;*Saint Lucia – 8.13%,
;*United Kingdom – 5.36%,
;*Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – 5.04%,
;*Antigua and Barbuda – 4.12%
Berths and terminals
The berths and terminals of Bridgetwon are laid out as follows:
Passenger lines
![AIDAperla in Bridgetown, Barbados - February 2020](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/AIDAperla_in_Bridgetown%2C_Barbados_-_February_2020.jpg)
The Deep-Water Harbour now acts as a
home port for many of the British-based Cruise ship lines operating in the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
region. Some of the
Cruise Line
A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though ...
s which visit or are home ported at the Deep Water Harbour include:
*
Carnival Cruise Line
Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel (ship), funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue colo ...
*
Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 19 ...
*
Club Cruises Club Cruise was a Netherlands-based cruise ship company, that chartered vessels to other operators, including Transocean Tours and Phoenix Reisen. The company had also operated ships under its own brands, first in 1999 on short cruises from the Net ...
*
Compagnie Des Iles Du Ponant
*
Costa Cruise Line
Costa may refer to:
Biology
* Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy
* Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus
* Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral
* Costa (entomology), the leading edge of th ...
*
Crystal Cruises
}
Crystal Cruises is a cruise line now headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 1988 by Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and sold to Hong Kong-headquartered conglomerate Genting Hong Kong in 2015. Following in ...
*
Festival Cruises
Festival Cruises (known as First European Cruises in North America) was a Greece-based cruise line that operated between 1994 and 2004. It was founded in 1992 by the Greek entrepreneur George Poulides using second-hand ships. The company acquired ...
*
Fred Olsen & Co
*
Hanseatic Cruises
*
Hapag Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd AG is a German international shipping and container transportation company. Hapag-Lloyd was formed in 1970 through a merger of Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG) and North German Lloyd.
History
The company was formed on September 1, 1 ...
*
Holiday Kreuzfahrten
*
Holland America Line
Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States.
Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operated ...
*
Majestic Cruise Line
*
Maritime Universal
*
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6 ...
*
Orient Lines
Orient Lines was a cruise line specialising in exotic destinations that was in operation 1993–2008. The brand was founded in 1993 by Gerry Herrod, and was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line in 1998. It ceased operations in March 2008 and was sold ...
*
P&O Princess
*
Passat Ship Management
*
Radisson Seven Seas Cruises
Regent Seven Seas Cruises (RSSC), formerly known as Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, is a luxury cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida.
Since September 2014, Regent Seven Seas Cruises has been a wholly owned subsidiary owned of Norwegian Cruise ...
*
Residensea
*
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Flori ...
*
Royal Olympic Cruises
Epirotiki was a shipping company that began in 1850. Epirotiki Line operated cruise vessels, cargo and tanker vessels.
Foundation
Anastassios Potamianos began his first shipping venture in 1850 transporting cargo and passengers along the Danu ...
*
Saga Shipping
is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the ...
*
Seabourn/Cunard
*
Sea Cloud Cruises
*
Seadream Yacht Club Cruises
*
Seetours International
*
Services Transport
*
Silversea Cruises
Silversea Cruises is a luxury cruise line headquartered in Monaco. Founded in 1994 by the Vlasov Group of Monaco and the Lefebvre family of Rome, it pioneered all-inclusive cruising with its first ship, Silver Cloud (ship), ''Silver Cloud''. Si ...
*
Star Clippers
*
Sun Cruises
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
*
Swan Hellenic
*
Unicom Management
*
V-Ships
*
Waybell Cruises
*
Westria Holdings
*
Windjammer Cruises
*
Wind Star Cruises
Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating ...
International sister seaports agreements
* –
Manzanillo International Terminal
Manzanillo International Terminal (abbreviation: MIT, UN/LOCODE: PAMIT) is located east of the Atlantic opening of the Panama Canal on Manzanillo Bay, Colón Province, Panama.
MIT is a distribution center for cargo destined for cities within Pana ...
, Panama (2014)
* –
PortMiami
The Port of Miami, styled as "PortMiami" but formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the ...
, United States
* –
Port of Palm Beach
The Port of Palm Beach is located in Riviera Beach, Florida, United States, in Palm Beach County. The port is an independent taxing district, with a five-member board of commissioners elected at large by voters within the district. The port dist ...
, United States (1998, 2006 and 2019)
* –
Port of Tema, Ghana (2019)
DRAT AGREEMENT
/ref>
See also
* Barbados Coast Guard
*Pelican Island (Barbados)
Pelican Island was a small uninhabited island that once existed off the west coast of Bridgetown and Fontabelle, in St. Michael, Barbados. History
According to historical record, the island received its name from brown pelicans (''Pelecanus ...
* Transport in Barbados
*List of busiest container ports
This article lists the world's busiest container ports (ports with container terminals that specialize in handling goods transported in intermodal shipping containers), by total number of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) transported through ...
*List of largest container shipping companies
Several shipping lines are involved in intermodal freight transport as part of international trade.
List of largest container shipping companies
This is a list of the 30 largest container shipping companies as of 11 August 2022, according to '' ...
*List of merchant marine capacity by country
List of merchant navy capacity by flag is a list of the world foremost fleets of registered trading vessels ranked in both gross tonnage (GT) and deadweight tonnage (DWT) sorted by flag state. The table is based on the annual sea, maritime shippin ...
References
External links
*
Barbados Customs & Excise Department
Caribbean Export Development Agency
Port of Bridgetown
Ports.com
Barbados Tourism Encyclopedia
Barbados Maritime Ship Registry
(BMSR)
Global Maritime Distress and Safety System
(GMDSS) For Barbados
Aerial photo
wikimapia.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Port Of Bridgetown
Transport in Barbados
Bridgetown
Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...
Saint Michael, Barbados
Bridgetown
Breakwaters