Posted on August 1, 2017
Royal Caribbean International’s cruise ship, Adventure of the Seas, is resuming calls to Port Castries.
Following a successful dredging exercise undertaken by the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA), the 310 metre-long voyager class vessel can again dock at Pointe Seraphine.
The ship had previously been unable to dock at the city’s port due to harbour depth concerns.
SLASPA closed Pointe Seraphine berth No.1 to undertake major extension works, and reassigned Adventure of the Seas to berth No.2 to 4, which are of sufficient length to accommodate ships up to 330 metres in length. However, Royal Caribbean International expressed concern over the depth of the harbour alongside the berths. The required depth is a minimum of 10 metres.
SLASPA’s subsequent measurements revealed that the depths were inconsistent with requirements, and undertook a dredging exercise. The work involved using a ship to suction silt off the bottom of the harbour, and using heavy equipment to excavate heavier material until the required depth was achieved.
The cruise line has expressed satisfaction with SLASPA’s efforts and Adventure of the Seas is scheduled to call at Port Castries every three weeks, way into the next cruise season.
Source: Nationnews
