The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A TOP Carnival executive says its proposed $100m Grand Bahama port will not result in reduced vessel calls to Nassau, while describing its investment as a “no brainer”.

Giora Israel, Carnival’s senior vice-president of global port and destination development, told Tribune Business: “We certainly don’t see the Grand Bahama project resulting in any reduced calls to Nassau.”

Carnival’s $100m port is billed as its largest wholly-owned facility in the world. Mr Israel, who last week addressed the Grand Bahama Business Outlook conference, said the company was “feverishly” working to complete two environmental impact studies and also working to hit several targets to ensure the project is on time.

The port, which will be able to accommodate two 6,000-passenger cruise ships, is expected to be completed by October 2021.

“We are absolutely convinced that we will stick to this destination for a long time,” said Mr Israel. “We believe in the long-term viability and strength of Grand Bahama; we always did. We ultimately believe in this destination. The port idea was a ‘no brainer’.” he added.

Mr Israel argued that Grand Bahama was not reaching its full potential, and said: ““There is no reason in the world why Grand Bahama cannot be the maritime centre of the Americas.”

The Carnival cruise port has been on the drawing board for more than a decade, covering both Christie administrations and the last Ingraham administration. It was originally set to be located at Williams Town before the last Christie administration signed the agreement to move it to eastern Grand Bahama. The company now plans to lease 329 acres of land at Sharp Rock, near the University of The Bahamas, for the project.