Boxes Over Breakbulk: Caribbean Ports Face

PORT FOCUS

his doctorate in economics and who has conducted more than 1,000 port studies throughout the world over the past 40 years. He is president Boxes Over of Lancaster, Pennsylvania- based Martin Breakbulk Associates. Patrick Caribbean Ports Face Infrastructure Challenge Bird, managing director and global head BY PAUL SCOTT ABBOTT especially for facilities for non- of advisory at containerized activity, while they are the Edison, often more literally boxed in due to New Jersey- hen it comes to lack of room for port expansion. based Seabury providing sufficient “The entire focus has always Maritime unit of infrastructure for been containers,” consultant John C. Seabury Capital, John C. Martin handling outside-the- Martin said of the emphasis of port the New York- Martin Associates box cargoes, ports of the Caribbean development in the Caribbean region headquartered regionW are finding themselves boxed in over the last half-century. “There is specialty finance and investment firm, – in more ways than one. clearly opportunity for other cargo, pointed to private financing providing Figuratively, Caribbean ports and it has not been addressed at a potential boost. But in light of are boxed in due to limited funding, all,” continued Martin, who holds limited non-containerized cargo

ABOVE: At the Port of Bridgetown in Barbados, a decline in intraregional breakbulk trade means transit shed facilities along shallow-draft berthing are not as busy as they once were. / CREDIT: BARBADOS PORT INC.

84 BREAKBULK MAGAZINE www.breakbulk.com ISSUE 5 / 2018

A new multipurpose cargo terminal is envisioned for La Brea on the island of Trinidad, where existing port facilities have run out of room for affordable expansion. / CREDIT: MARTIN ASSOCIATES.

volumes, he new port, as is constitute the majority of tonnage, cautioned, “the advancing on storage has been moved off the port, ability to secure the island of St. with most cargo delivered directly to capital becomes Vincent in St. importers, Roach said. quite an issue Vincent and the Space constraints for storage of when looking Grenadines. breakbulk and project cargoes are of to upgrade or particular concern in the region during address these SPACE TO peak season periods, such as around challenges.” EXPAND Christmas, he added. Glenn Roach, A few In his home port of Barbados, executive Caribbean ports Roach said the shallow-draft facility secretary of the Patrick Bird Glenn Roach are blessed with at the Port of Bridgetown, which Port Management neighboring once was dedicated to intraregional Association of the Seabury Maritime Port Management property breakbulk trade, has seen the annual Caribbean, said Association of the available for number of ship calls drop to about 100 lack of available acreage for expansion Caribbean expansion. A from a high of 400 in the mid-1990s. of existing port facilities exacerbates notable example In 2005, Barbados Port stopped challenges. is in the British overseas territory dedicating that facility and its on-dock “The port infrastructural of Anguilla, where 2.4 acres to the transit sheds to breakbulk commerce, challenges regarding breakbulk and immediate south of the existing Port and the port’s master plan calls for project cargoes is really space,” he said. of Road Bay have been acquired, with eliminating two existing transit “There is nowhere really to expand a new multifunctional jetty being sheds and replacing them with a the ports, because they are kind of built with the assistance of the British 75,239-square-foot container freight hemmed in by the city.” government, and where plans call for station. Roach added options include future acquisition of an additional 1.4 “Even among the smaller ports reclaiming land from coastal waters, as adjoining acres. that still handle breakbulk cargo, they was done in Barbados with expansions In another British overseas are looking at development in terms of the Port of Bridgetown in the territory, Turks and Caicos, where of the containerized cargo,” Roach 1960s and 1970s, or construction of a breakbulk activity continues to said. “Overall, the intraregional cargo,

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Through our advanced maritime know-how, technology and experience, we provide our customers with high quality services around the world. which is the main source of breakbulk, Bird, who said, “Implementing clever project and breakbulk cargo volumes seems to be diminishing, so that is the IT programs can certainly help port relates to devastating storms, as challenge now.” authorities to better plan and utilize Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria And that gets back to Bird’s the infrastructure that they have.” in 2017 combined to inflict more than point, as, particularly following Often, the private sector can US$100 billion of damage in the region, 2016 completion of Panama Canal not only bring in dollars, but can plus projections indicate further expansion, container-handling also introduce technological and heightened severe storm activity in the infrastructure gets the lion’s share of operational advances – if investments region in the future thanks to global interest. are made. climate change. “Big container investments Many countries in the region “These ports are right in the way of typically get the greater attention have colonial ties to European some of the worst weather,” Bird said. put on them,” Bird said. “But I think nations, including as independent “On the flipside, as it relates to break- there’s still strong demand in the commonwealth countries. But, as Bird bulk or project cargoes, I think we’re region for breakbulk or project cargo. said, “Unfortunately, they don’t have going to see an increase in the demand, “The problem is there’s very little access to a ton of the affiliated country particularly as the rebuilding effort money that you can invest on the back funding. It would be great if they did.” continues. Much of these cargoes come of small volumes, or it makes it harder Private capital is very interested in via relay from the other ports in the to do so, so it’s all about trying to find the marine space, an example in the region, so, in some ways, the capacities innovative financing solutions or U.S. being investments of the Ontario of these ports to support the rebuild- technological advantages,” he Teachers’ Pension Plan in container ing need to grow in lockstep with one said. terminal facilities at the Port of New another.” York and New Jersey. However, Bird TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP said, pension funds, banks and other THE DARKER SIDE Ports lacking room to expand must potential investors may perceive However, efforts to rebuild make the most out of the acreage they greater risks in the Caribbean, ranging following storm devastation have led do have, and modern information from relative economic instability to to concerns on several islands. For technology can be productively remote location. example, Roach noted, once cargo was deployed in this regard, according to Ironically, a factor that may boost able to get into port on Tortola, the

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88 BREAKBULK MAGAZINE www.breakbulk.com ISSUE 5 / 2018 largest of the British Virgin Islands, and rig repair in LNG-rich Trinidad involved in hurricane relief, is the Port there was not enough quay-proximate and Tobago. of Ponce, which has failed to meet space to accommodate the deluge of The planned Brighton expectations as a container hub on the tonnage. International Terminal at La south side of Puerto Rico. In the West Indies, Antigua and Brea, on vast undeveloped land in Meanwhile, offshore Caribbean Barbuda is rebuilding following southwestern Trinidad, is “clearly transshipment hubs in which global Hurricane Irma devastation with the most interesting possibility” for container lines have invested, such funding from China, which also, meeting multiple cargo demands that as those of Jamaica’s Kingston and back in 2016, put a US$100 million Trinidad’s longtime ports at Point the Bahamas’ Freeport, have become loan toward redevelopment of the Lisas and Port of Spain are unable to less relevant as 50-foot depths have deepwater facility at Antigua’s St. fulfill because of lack of channel depth become available at multiple U.S. East John’s Harbor. and insufficient landholdings onto Coast ports. Also, some money for port which to affordably expand. A recent Port Management Asso- infrastructure is coming from the At Brighton, for which an operator ciation of the Caribbean communiqué Caribbean Development Bank, but is being sought, Martin envisions aptly summed things up this way: “To most CDB projects deal with even more a facility that not only handles be sure, marine port development and rudimentary endeavors, from street containers, some for transshipment, effective maintenance present severe lights and roadways to solid waste but also takes advantage of vast tracts challenges to the governments of the management and flood mitigation. for project and breakbulk activity, Caribbean and Central America. But, Martin Associates’ Martin including vehicle distribution. A paradoxically, port development also concurred that staging for cargoes highway is being built linking La Brea creates oppor-tunities for growth and involved in hurricane relief and with the capital city of Port of Spain economic advancement of a people.” BB rebuilding offers opportunities, saying, and other Trinidad population and “The demand for high-and-heavy is industrial centers. driven by natural disasters.” Another Caribbean property A professional journalist for nearly 50 The offshore energy industry also Martin sees as having potential years, U.S.-based Paul Scott Abbott has provides opportunities, Martin added, for handling breakbulk and high- focused on transportation topics since honing in on demands for steel pipe and-heavy cargoes, including those the late 1980s.

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