Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan has said, after having reviewed the potential use of floating piers, he believes given the design limitations when it comes to rough weather, it will not work for the Cayman Islands.
However, Bryan pointed out that a new discussion on the future of the existing port may need to be had and it may involve relocation from downtown George Town.
He said the future of the cargo port remains an issue, particularly the situation with capacity and will come into sharper focus, as life returns to normal in Cayman, without travel restrictions.
Floating piers can’t work
“It [the concept of floating piers in Cayman] does not look like it is going to get very far,” Bryan, speaking on the Cayman Compass talkshow The Resh Hour last Wednesday, said of the idea, which was sparked by a recent visit to Jamaica.
The Caymanian delegation was invited to the Port Royal cruise port to see its floating piers in operation by Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett.
“We went down there, and we were, at least me as minister, quite blown away,” Bryan said, after the trip.
In 2015, the viability of floating piers was first reviewed and rejected by Baird, the lead consultants on an environmental impact assessment for the now-abandoned cruise-berthing project-under the previous Progressives-led administration.
The consultants had questioned the technical viability of the piers since, at that time, they had not been used in any hurricane-prone locations.
Bryan, in the interview, said, while he is waiting to hear back from the company behind the piers, he also believes the concept cannot work, given the rough weather often experienced in Hog Sty Bay.
“What I understand is that they can only handle a certain amount of weather,” he said, adding that the piers would not be detachable, nor potentially able to withstand severe tropical storms, hurricanes or even a Nor’wester.
“The preliminary indications are it can’t…. so this may just be dead in the water,” he said, adding that he was obliged to investigate an opportunity to improve Cayman’s cruise experience, particularly “without the negative effects” to the environment.
The piers, he said, may also be a “non-issue” because of Cayman’s deep waters; they would involve attaching to the existing concrete structures and moors, which would have to be anchored out into the water so the mechanical arm can straighten and be secured.
“Maybe one day a Cayman smart engineer is going to build some floating devices that you can pick up and carry them away and put them back the next day, without even touching the water,” he suggested.
He added he is still awaiting more details from the developers of the floating piers.
‘Cargo has to move’
Bryan said he feels, as both the minister responsible and the local MP for George Town Central, that port capacity remains an issue
“I believe cargo has to move from the central part of our district. I think if we do not start to think about where it’s going to move to from now, it’s going to be a disservice to the future generation,” he said.
The previous administration, he said, tacked on the cargo port expansion as justification for the cruise-berthing facility, but he believes an industrial facility like a port cannot be paired with a tourism product.
This, he said, is part of the reason why the cargo port may need to be relocated, as well as the fact that there is no space for actual expansion without crossing the road onto the historic Elmslie Church.
“The truth of the matter is, whether organically or not, if we grow to say, hypothetically to 150,000 people, whether that’s 50 years from now, the only way for your growth to go is to knock down Elmslie and that is not going to happen while I’m alive… sorry to be strong with that, but there’s no place to expand… [It’s] either come inland where you hurt iconic structures that mean a lot to the George Town people or you hurt the environment by going out into the waterfront,” he contended.
Government, he said, has to plan for these issues and have the conversations, which he contended, are a “touchy topic.”
Growth, he said, can be done in a managed, sustainable way.
Capacity issue flagged in 2019
Back in 2019, the Port Authority warned that space limitations at the current cargo facility were putting a strain on the efficiency of its staff and the maximisation of its equipment.
Joey Woods, the then-director, said that the port is operating at maximum capacity 90% of the time.
Imports since then have continued to increase, compounded by COVID, as many opted to online shop due to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Cayman, Bryan said, still has to plan for growth, even if cruise and cargo have to remain mixed and a new cargo facility found later.
“We have to start that discussion today. We can’t wait because to do a facility like that may take you five to 10 years to get it built,” he added.
Related Videos
As usual too little too late. The government has known for years that the island needs more capacity for imports and done nothing but talk. They are talking again and in 5-10 years when not enough food can be imported for the growing population they will start pointing fingers. I certainly do not know the answer but there must be someone who does. The same thing is happening with SMB or the lack there of. You use to be able to walk the beach from one end to the other. Now there are several places (Plantation Village, Darts House, where there is NO sand
Agreed. A long term plan is needed for these Islands, across the board!.