Government has hired KPMG to draw up a business plan to determine if Cayman’s cargo port in George Town should be expanded or move to a new site.
Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Tourism and Port Minister Kenneth Bryan said the report is expected to be completed in early 2024.
“During January and February, an information gathering exercise will be undertaken and, from this, the team will be able to review options moving forward,” he said.
Noting that the cargo port in George Town is the main port of entry for 95% of good imported into the Cayman Islands, he said it had been struggling for “some time” to handle that level of cargo. With Cayman’s growing population, demands on the port are increasing, he said.
In February this year, Bryan announced that a strategic outline case had examined whether it was preferable to expand the port at its current George Town Harbour location or move it to another site, with Breakers being suggested as the preferable location.
The vessels servicing the port are reaching the end of their lifespans and, as they transition out of service, are being replaced with larger vessels, which, when fully loaded, require a deeper draft than exists at the current port in Hog Sty Bay, the minister told fellow legislators Monday.
He also noted that cargo ships much wider than previously, carrying containers “stacked eight or ten across”, and that the two cranes at the Port Authority have a reach of six across and are incapable of lifting containers across vessels with such wide spans.
Other issues relating to container storage, trucking and warehouse capacity, and the provision of services to customers, such as revenue collection and cargo delivery, are also raising challenges at the current site.
In his budget speech to the House, Bryan also updated Parliament on other initiatives being undertaken at the Port Authority, including plans in the coming two budget years to upgrade the docks in George Town, Spotts, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.
“These docks are aged, between 30 and 45 years old, and are showing various levels of wear and tear,” he said. “They require urgent refurbishment and maintenance to keep them operating in a safe and efficient manner.”
The Port Authority would also be purchasing equipment to replace its aging container-handling equipment, he said.
Bryan said there were plans to acquire two new vessels – one for the harbour patrol division in Grand Cayman and the other for the Port Authority in Cayman Brac.
“These other activities will extend the functional, useful life of the port assets to enable them to be used in the delivery of cargo and improving the safe and pleasant environment of our guests,” he said.
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