02-Jun-1999

Freeport Container Port (FCP) has announced details of the Phase II Expansion of its transshipment hub located on Grand Bahama Island, situated 65 miles Northeast of Miami.

Officially opened by the Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in July of last year, the $78.3M Phase I of FCP comprises of two berths, four Super-Post Panamaz Quay Cranes with an annual capacity of 560,000 TEU per annum. Since becoming fully operational in August of last year, volumes have grown sharply so that already over 70% of the capacity is being utilised.

Phase II of the facility will comprise of an additional 1200 sq. ft. of quay, three Super-Post Panamax, Quay Cranes and a further twelve Straddle Carriers.

Work on the project commenced in January with the appointment of the UK based Halcrow Group as Civil Engineering Consultants to the project and the site geotechnical investigations were concluded in March. Tenders for equipment supply and for the civil construction of the facilities were issued earlier in the year, and contracts for the supply of the three Quay Cranes and twelve Straddle Carriers are expected to be awarded in the next week. The civil contract will be awarded in early July with construction expected to commence shortly afterwards.

The Phase II expansion project is scheduled for completion in August 1999, at which time the overall facility will comprise three berths (915m), seven Super-Post Panamax Quay Cranes and a fleet of 22 Straddle Carriers. At this time, the capacity of the terminal will increase to 950,000 TEU per annum. When fully completed, the Container Port expects to employ at least 60 additional Bahamian workers with additional workers also employed by support companies, such as BHICAM Engineering.

FCP is emerging as the natural transshipment hub for the Americas, with cargo being transshipped between the main global East/West line haul routes and North/South trades to the Caribbean, South/Central/Latin Americas.

With a forecast of 10% year on year regional growth for the next decade and strong interest from several shipping lines, the Phase II expansion is not only timely, but necessary in order to maintain and increase our customer base.

FCP is privately owned and operated in joint venture between Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) and The Grand Bahama Development Company. HPH is the global market leader in port development and operation. As the largest independent port operator in the world, HPH handled over 13.1 million TEU’s in 1997.