One of the main shipping lines that bring cargo into the St. John’s Harbour weekly,
Tropical Shipping, diverted two of its largest vessels into the harbour on Sunday
because of the swells caused by the passage of Hurricane Lee.
But according to Port Manager, Mr. Darwin Telemaque, the shipping line chose
the St. John’s Harbour as a safe port because of the swells and high tide that had
been affecting several islands in the Western Caribbean.
The two vessels – Tropic Jewel and Tropic Unity – contained cargo that was
destined to other islands that were off-loaded in Antigua and Barbuda for
transshipment elsewhere. As a result, many of the supermarkets and other
importers were able to receive their weekly goods a day earlier than normal.
However, according to Telemaque the most important outcome from this exercise
was the ability of the St. John’s Harbour to demonstrate to Tropical Shipping that
its level of efficiency in its operation makes a strong case for it to be considered
seriously as a transshipment point for the shipping line.
He reported that the vessels off-loaded 122 containers from the Tropical Jewel,
which arrived first by midday. “This was done much to the surprise of Tropical
Shipping as our staff lead by acting Terminal manager, Dale Phillips, and his team
executed brilliantly and the first vessel was able to be discharged in less than six
hours. The excellent work of the team exceeded what the shipping line had
anticipated,he disclosed.
The port manager said there have been ongoing discussions with Tropical Shipping
to make use of the Dt. John’s Harbour as a transshipment hub for goods destined to
the rest of the Caribbean. He is of the view that the efficiency of the operations
demonstrated over the last two days has made a strong case for that to become a
reality.
“What we are seeing is that the port is able to execute in ways that it could not
have done before. These are two large vessels and we were able to clear them in
record time. I am hoping that Tropical takes notice of this a decide that this is the
place to do it,” he indicated.
