Consistent cargo volume growth has prompted officials to move ahead with a $250 million expansion of Grand Bahama's Freeport Container Port (FCP).
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) is the majority owner and operator of the container handling facilities.
Freeport's principal customer, the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) relies on FCP as its regional transshipment hub along with owing a significant equity stake in the facilities.
"Business is going very well," said Chris Gray, Hutchison chief executive for The Bahamas. "We are basically full at the moment."
Plans for the Bahamas' key transshipment facility include increasing handling capacity from the current 1.5 million TEUs to 2.4 million TEUs per year by 2009.
The development would also enable the port to accommodate the larger ships that will be calling the region upon completion of the $5.2 billion Panama Canal expansion.
Also known as Phase V expansion, another 500 metres of berth will be added on to bring the total to 1,536 metres.
Six more super post-Panamax cranes are scheduled to arrive along with an extra 35 straddle carriers. Reports say that construction work is slated to begin early next year.
Accompanying Freeport's growth would be development of the Sea-Air Business Centre, which will reportedly be a duty-free business park for warehousing, consolidation, distribution and exhibition activities.
According to Gray, the biggest ships that currently call at Grand Bahama have a capacity of 6,750 TEUs, but with vessels twice that size coming on stream recently, Hutchison is "looking to the future."
Hong-Kong based Hutchison also owns 50% of the Freeport Harbour Company in partnership with Port Group Ltd which runs cruise, bulk and ro/ro facilities along with the Grand Bahama Airport.
FCP is situated on Grand Bahama Island - one of the largest islands that comprise The Commonwealth of the Bahamas.
The port, endowed with one of the deepest natural harbours in the region, is some 111 kilometres off the east coast of Florida and sits at the centre of a 230 square mile free trade zone.
FCP is strategically located to serve as a major world container transshipment hub between the Eastern Gulf Coasts of the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, and trade lanes to European, Mediterranean, Far Eastern and Australasian destinations.
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