Caymans ban cruise ships?

[txwildflower2002]

Just read this today from CNN.

 

Caymans ban cruise ships at port

POSTED: 11:03 p.m. EDT, May 1, 2007

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) -- The Cayman Islands government said Tuesday it has banned cruise ships from anchoring at a port where their huge chains have damaged coral reefs.

 

Environmental officials say some coral can be preserved despite extensive damage along the sea floor near the Spotts Dock facility, which is used as an alternative port when seas are too rough for cruise ships to call on the George Town harbor.

 

"Because cruise ships are the biggest vessels to use the area regularly, their chains tend to cause a lot of the damage," said John Bothwell, a research officer with the British Caribbean territory's environment department.

 

A cruise ship anchoring for one day can destroy nearly an 1 acre (0.4 hectares) of intact reef, he said.

 

Cruise ships capable of holding their position without anchoring will still be allowed to unload passengers in Spotts Bay, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of the capital.

 

The ban had been in place previously, but Port Authority director Paul Hurlston reinstated it effective April 19 after officials noticed ships were anchoring again.

[CHAMPDDS]

Does this impact RCCL ? Is this their prefered docking/tendering location ?

 

David:D

[rosemail]

No need to panic! ;)

 

This "ban" only affects ships using a secondary port (Spotts), occasionally used in winter months when winds are northerly or westerly. Each year, a small percentage (I would estimate significantly less than 5%) of ships call at Spotts, and they can still use the facility if they remain on thrusters. For the average cruise visitor, this is a non-event. Even when Spotts is used, it can only accomodate a maximum of about three ships (depending on capacity). In winter months, typically 6 to 8 ships are scheduled to call each day. If some ships can not or choose not to stay on thrusters, there are others that can and will. This has been extensively discussed in previous threads.

[Eliot Ness]

........This has been extensively discussed in previous threads.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=549097

 

Note posts #15 & 17 in the above thread that reinforce what rosemail has posted above.

 

John