The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The warring parties battling over the $200m Rosewood Exuma development have supplied conflicting evidence over whether the shipping channel that will be used to supply the project with fuel and other key commodities is “safe and navigable”.

Jose Baldwin, in a February 10, 2026, Supreme Court affidavit sworn on behalf of Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club, the project’s next-door neighbour and leading opponent, argued that the route the developer, Miami-based Yntegra Group, intends to employ through Sampson Cay’s North Bay will “remain operationally unsafe and impractical” regardless of how much dredging is done.

The location of Rosewood Exuma’s service dock, and accompanying sea wall, and the amount of dredging required to provide a safe commercial shipping channel through North Bay for the resort’s supply vessels, is a central feature of the ongoing Supreme Court battle where Turtlegrass and its principal, Bob Coughlin, are seeking to overturn Yntegra’s certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) approval via Judicial Review.

However, Yntegra has provided testimony from its own sea-faring witness, Captain Gregory Adderley, who has served as commodore of the Black Point regatta, that the water depth in North Bay is “sufficient” to allow cargo and transport vessels to safely reach Rosewood Exuma’s service dock. He asserted that the route, channel and dock location “pose no navigation hazard” for ships arriving at, and leaving, the development.

And the Miami-based developer, in one of its recent Town Hall meeting presentations, asserted that the safety and navigation associated with the proposed North Bay supply channel had been verified by not just Captain Adderley but three other Bahamian boat captains with knowledge of the area - Dwight Rolle, Gerard Rolle and Therevous Black - who all hold certified licenses to operate commercial vessels weighing between 200 and 500 tons.

The fight over the location of Rosewood Exuma’s service dock, and the need for - and amount of - dredging that will accompany this was reignited earlier this week after Turtlegrass released a computer-generated simulation of what this might look like when constructed (see photo on Page 1B). It reiterated its charge that the development, in its current form, would undermine both North Bay’s marine environment and ecosystems, and the area’s recreational usage, by creating a commercial shipping channel.

However, architectural renderings for the Rosewood Exumas back-of-house facilities, such as fuel storage and garbage disposal, are seemingly nothing like the images released by Turtlegrass. They suggest these will largely be screened from sight, and obscured for Turtlegrass and its guests, by tropical vegetation (see photo on Page 1B).

Mr Baldwin, a Class A Bahamian boat captain who also holds US and UK licences to operate vessels weighing 200 tons, warned that “navigational challenges.. would arise if dredging occurs” and the breakwater and service dock are constructed as proposed in Sampson Cay’s North Bay. He described himself as having extensive knowledge of the area, being a resident of nearby Wild Tamarind Cay.

“In summary, it is my view that based on my experience and assessment of the environmental and hydrodynamic conditions affecting the North Bay, and having regard to the statutory requirements governing safe navigation and vessel operations in The Bahamas, it is my view that commercial fuel and supply vessels cannot safely or lawfully operate within the North Bay under existing conditions,” Mr Baldwin alleged.

“In accordance with accepted principles of confined water navigation and the safety obligations imposed by the Merchant Shipping Act 2021, vessels must maintain sufficient dynamic under-keel clearance to account for squat, wave-induced motion during manoevering, and loss of steerage in restricted waters. For the North Bay, these factors require a minimum additional clearance of approximately 5.5 feet beyond the vessel’s static draft to permit safe and seaman-like operation.

“Accordingly, a vessel drawing nine feet would require a minimum navigable depth of approximately 14.5 feet throughout the transit corridor,” Mr Baldwin added. “Depths of this magnitude are not present along the eastern or western approaches to the North Bay. As a result, entry to the North Bay from either the east or the west is not navigable for commercial fuel or supply vessels without extensive and continuous dredging over substantial distances.

“Such dredging would constitute a major alteration of existing bathymetry and coastal processes, and would trigger significant regulatory and environmental considerations under Bahamian law.” Mr Baldwin asserted that problems would persist even if the level of dredging that he believes is necessary was conducted.

“Further, even if such dredging were undertaken, the eastern and western approaches would remain operationally unsafe and impracticable due to persistent hazards including rocky shoals, wave exposure, current interaction, narrow channel geometry, and the absence of a recoverable manoevering envelope,” he added.

“These conditions prevent the establishment of a reliable maritime fairway and preclude safe vessel transit in accordance with the duties imposed by the Merchant Shipping Act and the oversight authority of the Port Department. For the above reasons, the North Bay cannot be considered a safe or navigable access area for commercial fuel or supply vessels under Bahamian maritime law, either in its existing state or as proposed.”

However, this assessment was directly contradicted by Captain Adderley in a May 14, 2025, letter to Yntegra’s principal, Felipe MacLean, which has been filed with the Supreme Court. Describing the document as his “assessment of the navigation conditions” for the proposed service dock, he asserted: “I can confirm that the water depth on the channel on the north side of Sampson Cay is sufficient for cargo and transport vessels that will access the proposed service dock.

“The water depth of the referenced channel, as shown by the bathymetry, has a minimum depth of seven feet relative to mean low water level, and up to ten feet relative to mean higher water level. The service dock basin has a depth of ten feet relative to the mean low water level, which is sufficient for the landing craft required for cargo deliveries.

“The routes, access channel and location of the proposed supply dock are satisfactory for safe navigation and pose no navigation hazard for the safe and efficient delivery of cargo and equipment to the proposed service dock.”

Yntegra, in its February 2026 Town Hall presentation, described the dredging concerns voiced by Turtlegrass and others as “a myth”. It produced slides purporting to show that no dredging will be carried out for the commercial shipping channel, and only 1.26 acres of seabed - related to the service dock - will be impacted by such activities.

And, tackling the service dock’s access and navigability concerns head on, the Miami-based developer added: “We have heard many claims; some measured, some exaggerated….

First, let’s acknowledge a contradiction we’ve heard: Some describe this area as calm enough for swimmers, snorkellers and paddleboards, while others describe it as routinely unsafe due to extreme swells and currents. Both descriptions cannot be true at the same time.”

And it added: “This area should be described for what it really is: A waterway - a navigable marine corridor used for controlled vessel traffic. The service dock has two navigable access routes, one through Over Yonder Cut and the second one through the west.

“The bathymetric surveys show natural depths in key access zones and the proposed entrance channel in the range of approximately 7 feet to 12 feet mean lower low water, including ten feet within the entrance footprint roughly 120 to 150 feet off the shoreline.

“This is not a passage ‘invented from nothing’. It is an existing corridor or waterway, which will be enhanced with minimal, targeted dredging and a jetty/breakwater to further reduce exposure and improve predictability.”

The Rosewood Exuma developer also asserted that multiple cargo vessels presently servicing Exuma have a shallow draft and are “perfectly capable of accessing the service dock”.

“The service dock is designed for shallow-draft landing craft and barges commonly used in Bahamian construction and supply operations, often with loaded drafts in the four to eight-feet range,” Yntegra said. “We are not planning for deep-draft vessels that require ten to 15 feet of water. The operational model aligns with vessels that already work successfully across the Family Islands.”