New York’s Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Governor George
E. Pataki have announced the signing of a long-term lease agreement
that will allow the City to move forward on its plans to create
a modern cruise terminal on the Brooklyn waterfront. The lease
agreement reached between the City’s Economic Development
Corporation (EDC) and the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey (PA) enables the City to take control of Piers 11 and
12 and proceed with the design and construction of the $30 million
facility, which is expected to create at least 600 new jobs.
Construction of the cruise terminal is part of the City’s
larger $200 million effort that was unveiled by the Mayor last
year to renovate and expand its cruise facilities. The plan
is intended to promote the fast-growing industry by building
a new terminal in Brooklyn and completely overhauling the New
York Cruise Terminal on Manhattan’s West Side to support
the growing number of passengers flowing into New York’s
ports. “One of our most important economic development
goals is to restore the greatness of New York City’s waterfront
by adding new uses that create jobs and offer residents access
to the water, and nowhere is that transformation occurring faster
than in Brooklyn,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “
The initial lease term is five years with two additional five-year
renewal options. The lease calls for the City to pay the Port
Authority about $560,000 a year in rent, starting in September
2005. These payments will be funded through revenue generated
by fees from cruise lines, concessions and other subtenants
at the facility.
The design of the Brooklyn terminal is progressing rapidly;
the design team has conducted all site and utility surveys and
the preliminary design has been reviewed by the cruise lines
and Customs officials. Construction is expected to begin in
February with an anticipated opening in late 2005. “Soon
Brooklynites will be able to board cruise ships in Red Hook
in Brooklyn and head straight for the Caribbean or England,
but if you are like me, you’ll want to stay close to the
ship for fear of missing out on the next delicious buffet,”
said Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz.
After conducting numerous navigation, traffic and design feasibility
studies to determine the best location for a cruise ship berth
in Brooklyn, EDC decided Pier 12 is the preferred location for
an initial terminal. During the early planning process, the
local community expressed concern regarding the impact of traffic
on local streets. To address these concerns, EDC worked with
the Port Authority to secure Pier 11, which will provide vehicular
access to the terminal to reduce the traffic impact on the community.
The City is leasing about 28 acres from the Port Authority,
which includes Piers 11 and 12, the associated upland area and
the Atlantic Basin.
The cruise facility on Pier 12 will provide sufficient warehouse
and upland area to accommodate the operational needs of the
cruise lines. A passenger pick-up and drop-off area and approximately
400 parking spaces will be provided on Pier 12, while Pier 11
will offer a vehicular access road to the terminal.
In April, Mayor Bloomberg announced the City’s Master
Plan to create three modern cruise ship berths at the New York
Cruise Terminal and one berth in Brooklyn in the next four years.
Based on current projections of the industry’s growth,
it is anticipated that an additional berth will be needed in
Brooklyn in the next ten years. The City has already reached
long-term agreements with Norwegian Cruise Lines and Carnival
Corporation, two of the world’s largest cruise companies,
which require them to bring at least 13 million passengers to
New York City and pay the City more than $200 million in port
charges through 2017. In return, the City committed to give
each line preferential berths on specific piers and is offering
the cruise lines incentives in the form of fee reductions in
exchange for volume and revenue guarantees, along with providing
incentives to promote growth beyond current projections.
Improvements at the New York Cruise Terminal in Manhattan will
include all new facilities to accommodate larger ships by installing
modern adjustable gangways and expanded pier aprons. This will
allow passengers and supplies to be loaded and unloaded with
greater comfort and efficiency. New terminals will segregate
embarking and disembarking passengers onto separate levels,
allowing for more efficient use of space and reducing congestion
caused by passengers arriving and departing at the same time.
In addition, the new facilities will have enhanced security
measures, new passenger drop-off areas and increased parking
facilities. Renovations to the New York Cruise Terminal will
be completed in 2009.
Almost 900,000 passengers came through the New York Cruise Terminal
in 2003, up from an average of 400,000 in the 1990s. That is
expected to increase to 1.5 million passengers by 2017. EDC
estimates that the cruise industry supports more than 3,300
jobs and has total economic activity of about $600 million,
which is expected to grow to $1.2 billion by 2014.
Rotterdam is starting to take off as a cruise destination. In
2004, seven cruise ships arrived, including Queen Mary 2 and
the Westerdam. Some 21 calls are already booked for 2005. Cruise
Rotterdam director Mai Elmar has called on ports to work more
closely with cruise lines to boost the number of European cruisers.
A growing number of lines are adding Western Europe itineraries.
‘Also other ports in Western Europe show growth figures,
but still a lot needs to be done to convince Europeans to go
in large numbers on a cruise vacation and board great cruise
ships,’ Elmar said. Elmar, also serves as Cruise Europe’s
executive manager.
Prime Minister Nelson Oduber of Aruba announced recently a modern
and luxurious cruise terminal would be built in the near future
to accommodate the growing cruise market. The proposed terminal
would be in the location of the current container harbor near
the airport. Plans call for the relocation of the container
port facilities to be relocated to Barcadera, located south
of the Queen Beatrix International Airport.
The Government of Aruba commissioned ALATEC, a Spanish company
to complete a study and to come with a design which includes
ideas of moving the cargo area to Barcadera and to evaluate
the opportunities of transforming the former cargo area into
an area for condominiums and mega yachts. Another project in
the works is to create an architectural plan for the wharf area.
With this move the Government of Aruba hopes to boost the cruise
tourism to Aruba even more. During October 2004 Aruba welcomed
56,482 cruise guests, a sizeable increase from October 2003
when Aruba received 20,756 cruise guests. Major cruise lines
calling at Aruba include Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Princess
Cruises.
Details of the proposed terminal will be announced shortly,
says a spokesperson for Aruba Tourism.
Star Cruises, reportedly is currently in discussions with the
Singapore government to develop a $1bn (S$1.6bn) cruise center
in Singapore. The Star Cruises proposal is one of several Singapore
is looking at.
The company, which owns and operates terminals in Port Klang,
Langkawi island and Kijal in Malaysia, and Laem Chabang in Thailand,
is committed to developing Singapore as a major cruise hub to
accommodate the growing cruise industry in the region. In 2003,
33 international cruise ships made 439 visits to Singapore.
