The Port of Bridgetown, Barbados’ only deep-water commercial port, sees roughly 800,000 passengers and 1.3 million tons of cargo annually, making it a major player in the Southern Caribbean. With ambitions to turn this Port into the hub of choice for the region, Managing Director and CEO David Jean-Marie outlines the port’s strategies to grow the port’s activity. This includes planned multi-million dollar investments and a focus on staff certification and training, as well as deepening partnerships with cruise liners and other tourism companies. Barbados is increasingly becoming the preferred choice as a port of origin for cruise lines, which currently represents one-quarter of the ports cruise passenger business. With the introduction of new direct flights from Germany, Mr. Jean-Marie hopes this segment will continue to grow and introduce new options for German visitors

As the long-time head of the nation’s port, you oversee a comprehensive portfolio of cargo, cruise terminal and marine service operations. What is the historical background of the Barbados Port and the key milestones that illustrate its national and regional significance today?

After a few attempts to try and build a deep-water port for the island, we finally found the current location in Bridgetown, and in 1961 the port was built and opened. As there was no natural harbor here, we reclaimed the land and dredged the port. After completion, the port was run by contractors and owned by the government. In 1979, the port became a fully public entity, and the contractor and government entity were combined to create a port authority governed by a board of directors. In 1992, there was a rationalization of operations at the port. There was further rationalization in 2014 to create a smaller nimbler organization. In 2003, the port authority became Barbados Port Inc, a company that is 100-percent owned by the government of Barbados.

Barbados cruise tourism witnessed a record year in 2019, with arrivals topping 800,000. How was the port able to reach this record and are there plans for any upcoming upgrade terminal projects that will continue to enable arrival growth?

Barbados is a marquis destination. It is among the southernmost Caribbean islands and it is an attractive destination for visitors from Europe and North America. Cruise tourism is fairly diverse, ranging from large ships of 4,000 to 5,000 passengers as well as small luxury ships carrying 200 to 300 visitors. Puerto Rico provides a gateway for our North American visitors, but we are also moving to become a homeport in a major way. Cruise lines from Europe fly tourists into Barbados from Germany, the UK and other destinations, and use Barbados as their homeport. Currently, about a quarter of our cruise tourists have Barbados as their port of origin, and we plan to continue to grow this segment. We have a good airport in Barbados that can accommodate a significant number of aircraft as well as solid ground transportation to bring passengers from the airport to harbor.

Barbados has been chosen as one of the world’s top cruise destinations based on consumer reviews. What cruise terminal service and managerial strategies have helped to create such a positive reputation?

We are focusing efforts on increasing and deepening collaborations with the cruise lines, and this has been a cross-governmental effort including the port, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, and others. We make sure to meet regularly with their teams to better understand what cruise lines require so that we can keep our offerings as fresh and relevant as possible.

Last June, a $12 million gantry crane capable of handling 100,000 container units was turned on at the port. How has this helped cargo performance and are there future investments that will work to relieve cargo congestion at the port?

The port acquired its first gantry in 1987, and it wasn’t until 2014 that we acquired a second modern gantry crane. This made us more reliable as a destination for medium-size container cargo ships. We saw a need for a third gantry crane which we acquired last year. Now we can discharge vessels in line with international standards and we’ve seen nearly 100 percent efficiency improvements. One of our strategic goals is to become the leading transshipment hub of the southern Caribbean and the right equipment is essential to that goal.  

The Barbados Port is charged with ensuring the safe shipment of goods in and out of the nation. How are new technology investments helping to ensure export/import growth continues and make Barbados into a regional business hub?

The government has committed to invest $15 million to upgrade the port security systems and ensure we can continue to be efficient in our cargo operations. We also upgraded our fleet and ensure that we have a fully certified workforce. Bridgetown Port is currently the only commercial port in Barbados, and 90 percent of goods enter the country via the port. We will continue to invest in the latest technologies to ensure that one of our critical borders remains secure. In terms of other modernization efforts, we are also implementing green technologies and moving away from fossil fuels as much as we can. The goal is to reduce the carbon footprint and remove the need for fossil fuel by 2030.

What competitive advantage does Bridgetown Port possess over the other ports in the region?

We have deliberately trained all our staff so they are fully certified; we are geographically in an advantageous location; we have a good reputation, and we are best in class. The services we deliver keep the cruise and cargo lines happy.

How do the new direct flights from Frankfurt impact port activity?

We already have established relationships with German companies that bring large numbers of cruise passengers, and we intend to continue to enhance the cruise facilities here. We are currently in deep discussions with a number of cruise lines and expect to develop a model to separate and modernize cruise and cargo facilities this year. We currently welcome 850,000 cruise passengers annually with a target of increasing that number to 2 million cruise passengers by 2030. Hitting this target will require a port that can accommodate the largest cruise ships being built in the world today.

Why should German investors now take notice of the competitive advantages offered by the Barbados Port?

There is a lot of activity happening at the moment, and we are looking to address some critical issues we’re facing as port activity continues to grow. At the moment, we are sometimes congested during peak cruise season. We are working to build port facilities in the north of the island to accommodate both superyachts and smaller cruise ships. We are in consultations with the community, business sector and government right now. We are building more yachting facilities, more than doubling the capacity there. We are also building a boat repair facility for repairs and servicing. This will provide jobs for Barbadians. We also value our local fishing community and are creating a safe harbor for our fishing boats. The approach adopted by the Board and Government is to democratize the ownership interest and create structures that will not only provide opportunities for the big investors but also for Barbadians to invest in these facilities. We expect to make significant progress in 2020 towards these goals and will host an investment forum to show investors the vision of the port and options for investment.