The Tribune

• ‘Relying’ on airport overhaul to aid ‘returns pay back’

• GB airport operator: ‘I’m here’ but cannot say more

• Six Senses developer: ‘Shovels in ground’ imminent

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Grand Bahama Shipyard’s $600m dry dock investment and related projects “are already under threat” due to the island’s airlift shortage, its chief executive has warned.

Dave Skentelbery told Tribune Business that inadequate hotel room inventory, coupled with insufficient airline seats to accommodate the ship’s crews and contractors that frequently rotate in and out of the Shipyard, could undermine the returns needed to “pay back” the massive investment by its cruise line shareholders (Carnival and Royal Caribbean) in the company’s revival.

And, for the dry dock project to succeed, he reiterated that the Shipyard is also “relying” on the promised $200m transformation of Grand Bahama International Airport being completed by 2025 as repeatedly promised by the Government.

“It’s absolutely essential that we have a decent airport because we need to bring ship’s crews in, contractors in, and already the projects in 2025 are under threat because we don’t have the airlift,” Mr Skentelbery told this newspaper. “We need hotel rooms and airlift in order for our project to make the returns to pay back what we’re going to have to put in for the investment.”

The Shipyard’s two new floating dry docks are already under construction at CSSC Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Company in Qingdao, China, with one expected to arrive in Grand Bahama by January 2026 and the other by the end of that same year. They will replace two previous docks whose loss reduced the Shipyard to just 25 percent functioning capacity by late 2019.

However, prior to the arrival of both replacements, significant site preparation and infrastructure-related works must be completed, including dredging, demolition, sea wall strengthening and pier extension, and these activities are scheduled to ramp-up in 2024. This means the Shipyard will be bringing in, and rotating out, increasing numbers of contractors amid concern over whether there is sufficient airlift capacity.

The $600m project is also accelerating at a time when there is growing uncertainty and concern over the GB Airport transformation and when it will proceed. Mr Skentelbery said he “didn’t have a clue” as to what was happening with the airport, but added: “I’m assuming that it’s going ahead.

“I’ve not head anything different. I don’t have a clue where it is. The fact we’ve heard nothing, I’m assuming it’s going ahead and will be finished in 2025 as originally scheduled. That’s what we’re relying on.” Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister, and also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, first unveiled the GB Airport deal at last year’s Grand Bahama Business Outlook back in March.

He pledged that “preliminary work” would begin towards the end of that month and early April, but there has been little sign of tangible progress to-date over the past nine to ten months. Both Mr Cooper and Prime Minister Philip Davis KC have subsequently hinted that announcements, signings and ground-breakings are imminent, but nothing has occurred to-date.

Andy Tyler Smith, director at Manchester Airports Group (MAG), the prospective operating partner for GB Airport, was yesterday tracked down by Tribune Business to Grand Bahama but declined to comment on the status of the deal or negotiations with the Government.

“I cannot say anything other than the fact I’m here. I’d love to be able to say something but I can’t,” Mr Tyler Smith said. This newspaper understands that all parties involved with the GB Airport deal have been placed under non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and ordered by the Government not to say anything publicly.

Mike Edwards, principal of Pinnacle Investments, which is thought to have been contracted to handle some of the construction and demolition work, also declined to comment citing an NDA. “We are still in conversations with the Government, and that’s about the extent to which I can speak,” he said. “In terms of the project and where it’s at, I am unable to speak to that.”

But, emphasising he was saying this as a Grand Bahama resident and businessman, Mr Edwards then added: “It needs to happen sooner rather than later. The economy of Grand Bahama is depending on it, and the longer it takes the more difficult it’s going to be.”

Tony Myers, the Bahamas Hot Mix (BHM) chairman who is part of the Bahamian investor group involved in the GB airport project, also declined to speak. “I am sorry, Neil, I cannot comment at this stage,” he said late yesterday afternoon in a What’s App messaged reply.

It was suggested to Tribune Business that Mr Tyler Smith is currently in Grand Bahama in the hope that something will break soon and that the Government may be poised to approve the airport transformation project - possibly as early as this week.

Mr Myers, BHM and CFAL president, Anthony Ferguson, are all members of the Bahamian investor group that will spearhead what has been billed as a complete overhaul of Grand Bahama International Airport. They are joined in Aerodrome Ltd by two fellow Bahamians - Anthony Farrington, an engineer; and Greg Stuart, a businessman.

BHM’s involvement in the project is through its UK-based international arm, BHM Construction International. The group teamed with Manchester Airport Group as its operating partner, with financing for the project supposed to be provided by UK Export Finance, a British government body that provides credit guarantees and helps to arrange funding for that nation’s exporters.

However, this newspaper was told last night that the financing is in place and there are no issues there. It was suggested that the GB Airport agreement may be on the Cabinet’s agenda for discussion and approval tomorrow, having been “ready to go” since fall 2023, only to suffer a series of delays and adjustments since.

“Manchester Airport Group has been given the complete runaround by the Government,” one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this newspaper. However, another added: “The Shipyard cannot survive without the airport. No hotel can survive without the airport. It will get resolved.”

All major Grand Bahama-based investment projects, including Carnival’s $500m Celebration Key cruise port and Royal Caribbean’s Freeport Harbour overhaul, not to mention the Grand Lucayan’s long hoped-for sale, will relay on the island having an airport able to accommodate the airlift demand these developments will likely trigger.

Marc Weller, principal of Weller Development, which is spearheading the $250m Six Senses resort project, told Tribune Business: “We’ve heard a lot of good feedback and food information that the airport project is on track and there are soon to be shovels in the ground and it’s started.

“That is something that is very important to us and very welcome to us. The airport is very critical long-term to the success of the island and certainly the success of our venture. Our project needs a full-functioning airport that has all the amenities for an island of this size and nature. It’s critically important, and we’re happy to hear it’s getting done.

“My understanding, and I’m on the outside looking in, but my understanding is it’s shovels in the ground any day and the group working on it is very excited to develop the airport on time. I just think it’s critical for the overall growth of the island. That goes for all the islands. I don’t think they’ll be any different.”

Multiple Freeport businesses and residents last week complained that the lack of airlift capacity has resulted in ticket prices for short-haul flights to Miami surging to four-figure sums, while also often forcing them to travel to Nassau first before then heading to the US.

One said: “I was trying to get to Texas to see a family friend, and looked at the flights and the timing was not good for me. I said I would go through Miami, and fly to Miami from Freeport, and the only ticket I could find was for $1,200.

“I had to fly to Fort Lauderdale for $200 on Bahamasair and Uber to Miami. Say the flight has got 24 seats; the Shipyard will book 18 of them. Only six will be left, and they will bump the prices up.”