Piedroba Consulting Group, a Miami, Florida based marine infrastructure consultancy firm announced that it has been contracted by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) to perform professional services on the development of Harvest Caye, one of Norwegian's new destinations in Belize.
It will be Piedroba's responsibility to provide strategic, contract administrative, and technical opinions on the deepening of the navigation channel, which is part of a $50 million eco-friendly development that will also include a floating pier, island village with raised-platform structures, a marina, a lagoon for water sports and a beach. Norwegian Cruise Line also plans a transportation hub to run shore excursions to the mainland. The dredge project, which will allow Norwegian's cruise ships to enter and serve the two adjoining Harvest Caye Islands, consists of the dredging of 1.2 million cubic meters of material, deepening the channel to 11 meters. It is anticipated that the project will be completed by fall 2015.
Piedroba's president Luis Prieto y Munoz said: "We are thrilled to partner up with Norwegian on this project; we have taken notice of a trend where Cruise Lines, through their destination developments, have become more involved as stakeholders in marine infrastructure projects that include a dredging component. We feel that our expertise, combined with our geographical proximity to the Miami based Cruise Lines, offers a great opening to serve this emerging market segment. "