THE $35-million development of a new pier, terminal and transport depot at Dockyard is set to begin within months to make room for the floating behemoths of the future.The new pier will allow two post-Panamax, or mega-ships, to berth simultaneously and, according to Tourism and Transport Department consultant Larry Jacobs, has to be completed by 2009.

Why the rush? Because every ship that currently comes to Hamilton and St. George’s will be sold over the next two years.

Mr. Jacobs said that over the past few years Government had been working on a master plan for all three ports, including the redevelopment of all three waterfronts.

“We also looked at the trends in cruise ship development . . . and basically it comes down to the fact that cruise ships are getting larger,” he said.

Mr. Jacobs said Celebrity Cruises announced last year that it was selling the Zenith and replacing it with a much smaller ship called the Celebrity Journey. he Norwegian Crown <$>and Empress of theas <$>are being sold later this year and the Norwegian esty <$>will be taken out of the fleet in 2009.

With the exception of the Celebrity Journey, Mr. Jacobs said the only ships the major cruise lines had to replace them with were well over 800 feet.

He added that the smallest ship Celebrity Cruises has built in the last five years is 965 feet, Norwegian Cruise Line’s smallest is 850 feet and Royal Caribbean’s is 962 feet — much larger than either Hamilton or St. George’s can support.

And in order for these two ports to cater to the larger ships, significant modifications would need to be done.

In the case of St. George’s, Mr. Jacobs said: “If we wished to ensure 80 per cent reliability in winds up to 25 knots as an example, we looked at what would we need to do to Town Cut to bring through a 950-foot ship. We would have to shave off about 100 to 150 feet of Higgs Island and if we did that it would be a huge cost to the environment.”

The area is not only a turtle habitat, but it also home to coral reef and would ultimately expose the harbour to adverse sea conditions, he said.

“Fabian (in 2003) did a pretty good job on the town of St. George’s and you can argue if you open the the mouth of the Cut, sea conditions would be worse if hurricanes came in from that direction. People were also concerned at having a 950-foot ship dwarfing the town of St. George’s.”

Meetings with the Corporation of St. George’s followed and it was decided not to widen Town Cut, but to redevelop the waterfront according to its World Heritage Site management plan instead.It was also decided to increase the ferry lift so that the impact of removing ships from St. George’s would be minimised.

Mr. Jacobs explained that tourists visiting St. George’s by ferry were more likely to spend the entire day there, which would include frequenting local restaurants — something they don’t currently do when their cruise ships are berthed along the waterfront.

As for earlier speculation that Murray’s Anchorage would be developed, Mr. Jacobs said this option was not being pursued.

Developing Hamilton’s Harbour to allow access to the mega-ships poses similar problems, including the widening of Two Rock Passage and further dredging of the channel.

He said it was decided that Hamilton would also not cater to the larger ships and instead redevelopment of the waterfront was being considered.

Mr. Jacobs explained that the development of Dockyard and the expansion of the catamaran ferry fleet was all part of Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown’s plan to increase hotel beds as cruise ship visitor numbers decreased.

“Each time we put another high-speed ferry in service, particularly between Hamilton and Dockyard and Dockyard and St. George’s, it increases the potential for more people to use the ferry to go to and from those destinations, which minimises the need to have cruise ships docked on your front door,” he said.

Another major issue is the effect of the larger ships on the island’s infrastructure.

The smaller, older cruise ships currently visiting Bermuda are not as environmentally friendly as the new mega-ships and still rely on the island to supply them with water and dispose of their sewage and refuse.

“These ships were never intended to be as environmentally clean as some of the newer ships are — so yes, these ships are big, they’re massive and there are negatives to big ships, but there are also positives, especially to the environmental policies that we increasingly are imposing on them,” he said.

“There are so many big ships to choose from, once we have the second pier, then our selection criteria will be partially based on how well they manage their environmental resources onboard the ships.”

Meanwhile, the planning application has been submitted and Mr. Jacobs said they were “working through the process” which includes the environmental impact study and meeting with various groups involved, including the National Trust, the Marine Resource Board, Environmental Protection and the West End Development Corporation..

Work set to start soon on terminal