From left to right: Chief Executive Officer of the BPI, David Jean-Marie; Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and International Transport, Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner; and Chairman of BPI, David Harding, cutting the ribbons officially commissioning Berth 5 at the Bridgetown Port yesterday.
NEW BERTH 5 OPEN
The Parliamentary Secretary further indicated that the Port has also added five straddle carriers to expand its existing fleet of eight units, which will be used to handle all ISO standard containers in lengths of 20, 40 and 45 feet. These carriers, she told the gathering, has the ability to stack up to four 9.5 foot containers. She made the point while noting that the Port has also acquired additional lift trucks and pallet and container scanners.
She explained that in keeping with the Port Master Plan, they have also constructed a stern to berth, 600-foot long jetty with the capacity to accommodate as many as 30 yachts and similar vessels. Furthermore, it provides needed berthing space to accommodate residential and commercial vessels and will form a major part of the country’s tourism marketing as it relates to yacht racing.
The tourism official said that some of the vessels competing in the upcoming Barbados 50 Race which will start at Pico Teneriffe, St. Lucy in honour of the island’s 50th anniversary of Independence, will dock in that new marina. The senator said the marina also boasts facilities for the regulatory agencies and bathrooms for the yachtsmen. (JRT)