ARC Arrives - Caribbean Compass

—Continued from previous page
“Together with our partners for this specific trade,
the Dutch company Transport Partners, we identified
an increasing demand among smaller boat
owners/manufacturers for transatlantic shipments. Our
response has been to set up special terminals at the
load and discharge ports in order to make truck deliveries
easy for clients.”
In addition to the ocean transportation,
Sevenstar/Transport Partners also offers trucking services,
transport cradles and shrink-wrap in the US and
Europe, transport insurance and Customs clearance.
For contact information see ads on page 15 and 55.
Ti’Ponton — The Sailor’s Guide to Martinique
The 4th edition of Ti’Ponton, the sailor’s guide to
Martinique, is now available. This free publication contains
the most extensive information that you can find
on yachting services, equipment, provisioning, places
to see and things to do on and around Martinique.
Ti’Ponton is bilingual (French and English) and aims
to provide everything a sailor needs to know about
“Madinina, The Island of Flowers” including names,
addresses and telephone numbers of more than 600
nautical services, suppliers, provisioning companies,
doctors, local restaurants, sightseeing spots and more.
New this year is Ti’Ponton’s tidal information for major
coastal cities in Martinique. Look out for it at numerous
locations in Martinique.
For the latest marine news, log on to www.tiponton.com,
or for more information contact cptiponton@wanadoo.fr.
Grenada’s Port Louis Marina Acquired by CNMI
Camper & Nicholsons Marina Investments Ltd
(CNMI) has exchanged contracts to acquire the marina
at Port Louis, located in St. George’s Lagoon,
Grenada, and certain marina-related real estate for
US$24 million from Peter de Savary’s Port Louis Land
Ltd and Port Louis Trading Ltd.
The acquisition cost is substantially payable on completion
this month. The final cost of the marina is projected
to be US$36 million. As part of the acquisition,
CNMI is also purchasing approximately 23,800 square
metres of land (including reclamation rights), for
mixed-use development for which detailed planning
consent is in place.
Comprising approximately 100,000 square metres of
water area, held on a 99-year lease, of which over
40,000 square metres is berth area, the marina at Port
Louis will accommodate over 300 yachts including 60
superyachts up to 100 metres in length. The marina
has already opened with 50 fully serviced berths. The
US$500 million Port Louis luxury accommodation,
restaurant and retail shop development bordering
CNMI’s marina continues to be promoted by Peter
de Savary.
What goes around…. In this 2002 photo, the Grenada
government signed a marina agreement with Camper
& Nicholsons, who have now bought Port Louis
Marina from Peter de Savary
George Kershaw, Chairman of CNMI, said: “Port Louis
marks a further step in our program of acquiring and
developing strategically located marinas. Port Louis will
be a flagship Caribbean marina with an important
capacity for the fast-growing superyacht fleet. The
Government of Grenada has been pro-active in establishing
a yacht-friendly legislative and fiscal climate that
will assist the further growth of yachting in Grenada.”
Camper & Nicholsons’ interest in this marina location
is not new. On September 20, 2002, the Government
of Grenada, represented by Acting Prime Minister
Gregory Bowen, signed an agreement with Poole
Capital S.A., a finance company, in association with
Camper & Nicholsons marina management company,
for the acquisition of 50 acres of hillside and waterfront
property at St. George’s Lagoon. News reports at that
time said, “This new project, dubbed Port George, is
scheduled to start construction in six months and will
be in two parts: the marina and a waterfront and hillside
village with hotel and private residences.… the
marina will comprise about 350 berths, some catering
to megayachts….” The Port George project did not
materialize as such, however. Ground was broken for
Port Louis by Peter de Savary in late 2006.
For more information visit
www.portlouisgrenada.com.
St. Lucia’s Rodney Bay Marina Expands
Island Global Yachting (IGY), one of the world’s premier
owners, developers and managers of marina
Plan for dock redevelopment at Rodney Bay
JEFF FISHER
properties, recently announced that it has commenced
redevelopment of St. Lucia’s Rodney Bay
Marina, which was purchased by IGY in early 2007.
Slated for completion in late 2008, the new Rodney
Bay Marina will feature 252 fully reconstructed slips,
including the addition of an ISPS-compliant dock with
30 megayacht berths.
Cuthbert Didier, general manager of Rodney Bay
Marina, says, “Prior to this redevelopment, there were
no first-class marina ports in the southern Caribbean
which cater to the megayacht industry. We look forward
to continuing to serve our loyal clientele with an
even better facility and welcoming new customers to
the Rodney Bay Marina.”
Martin Lucas, IGY’s Director of Customer Service &
Quality Assurance, assures Compass that the addition
of megayacht berths does not mean that Rodney
Bay Marina will be excluding other boatowners.
Rebuilt amenities for cruising and charter sailboats will
include berths on wider docks with improved lighting,
security, water and power.
Rodney Bay Marina also offers a boatyard and is situated
in a well-protected hurricane hole. For the past 16
years the marina has been the final stop for the
Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. The existing marina will remain
operational throughout the phased renovation.
For more information visit
www.igy-rodneybay.com/marina.
Caribbean Maritime Institute Unveils New Initiatives
The Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), headquartered
in Jamaica, has entered a number of strategic
partnerships that will see the Institute extending its
franchise of training programmes across the
Caribbean and providing its students with hands-on
training on some of the world’s largest and most prestigious
vessels.
Executive Director of the CMI, Fritz Pinnock says:
“We have now formalized a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with the Port Management
Association of the Caribbean for which the CMI is
their official training and research arm. This covers the
Eastern Caribbean ports inclusive of Barbados, St.
Vincent & the Grenadines and Dominica.”
Pinnock also said that the Institute was “in deep discussions”
with the Barbados Port Authority and the
Shipping Authority of Barbados to collaborate with
that government in offering the CMI’s degree programmes
to their students. “Similar discussions are taking
place with the St. Vincent & Grenadines officials.
The objective is to make the CMI a truly Caribbean
Institution,” he noted.
At the Caribbean Shipping Association Conference
held in Puerto Rico earlier this year, an MOU was
signed with the Dutch Caribbean Training Centre in
Curaçao and De Ruyters Training Institute in Holland.
The Memorandum will meet the training needs of the
regional shipping and allied industries by facilitating
professional development and technical assistance. It
will also facilitate exchange and transfer of relevant
technology and expertise for the development of
maritime training and consultancy throughout the
Caribbean, Central and South America.
Pinnock added, “We have signed an MOU with a
large luxury megayacht crewing and management
company, managing in excess of 20,000 crewmembers
worldwide with offices in Fort Lauderdale and
Paris.” Closer to home, the CMI is currently formalizing
an MOU agreement with the Jamaica Fire
Brigade that will see the Brigade assisting with the
delivery and provision of equipment for the CMI’s
fire-fighting courses.
Pinnock unveiled additional initiatives that the
Institute has embarked on towards gaining university
status by 2010.
For more information visit www.cmide.org.
JANUARY 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 9