March 26, 2008 — While Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines gets ready to bring the world's largest cruise ship to the territory, the V.I. Port Authority plans to conduct a survey to determine whether it is more cost-effective to bring the vessel to Crown Bay or Havensight.
The debate is moot on the side of the West Indian Co. Ltd (WICO), whose president has said that the ship — called Project Genesis — is currently scheduled to berth at Havensight.
"We've already worked all the plans out with Royal Caribbean, and all they are asking is that the Port Authority do some spot dredging over by Hassel Island so that the ship can make the appropriate turn when it backs out of the harbor," said Edward Thomas Sr., WICO's president and chief executive officer, on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, however, Port Authority board members decided the survey would determine whether it would instead be less expensive for the agency to dredge the channel leading into Crown Bay, which already has the 36-foot depth required to berth the vessel.
"We're not trying to take the ship away from WICO," said Kenn Hobson, VIPA's interim executive director. "But the money is going to be coming out of the Port Authority's coffers — we have to do the dredging — so we have to do the survey to see whether it is more cost-effective to dredge the channel leading to the WICO dock, or dredge the channel to Crown Bay."
During a meeting on St. Thomas, VIPA board member Gordon Finch requested that the board's legal counsel look into whether VIPA is even responsible for dredging the Charlotte Amalie Harbor Channel so that the ship can dock at Havensight.
On a less-contentious note, Hobson reported that Royal Caribbean has also expressed interest in bringing ships to St. Croix. Any agreement, however, may require additional dredging at the Ann E. Abramson Pier, increasing the depth on the south side of the dock to 36 feet, he said.
The proposition is expensive, Finch added, and calls for the port to dig into a hard and rocky ocean floor. Additionally, VIPA has already guaranteed Royal Caribbean a depth of 34 feet, and has still received no commitments from the company, he said.
Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean has offered to cover the cost of the dredging in exchange for a reduction or rebate in assessed port fees. Since the port has not collected port fees on St. Croix since 1998, many board members suggested the authority re-examine — in light of the offer from Royal Caribbean and additional interest received from Carnival Cruise Lines — whether to revise the fee schedule or keep charging nothing.
Board members present Wednesday were Labor Commissioner Albert Bryan Jr., Finch, Attorney General Vincent Frazer, Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Robert O'Connor, Cassan Pancham, Hector Peguero, Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls and Yvonne Thraen.
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