Port Coral proceeds as Belize assesses cruise projects

The $90m project — originally known as Stake Bank Cruise Port — is all locally financed.

Operations to start 2022

The upland works are 50% completed and the maritime side is 25% along, according to Mike McFadden of Florida-based MAC Maritime, Port Coral’s cruise industry liaison. The plan is for the first phase — one pier and all upland works — to be ready by mid- to late 2022, with the second pier targeted for second quarter 2023.

The first phase includes a causeway between Belize City and North Drowned Caye, a much larger island planned for residential, hotel and entertainment development. In the first phase, high-capacity, high-speed tenders would whisk passengers from Port Coral to North Drowned Caye — a seven-minute ride — where an intermodal center would dispatch boats for tours to the out islands and motor coaches for transport to the mainland.

In the second phase, a causeway would link Port Coral to North Drowned Caye.

Causeways review

The government of Belize in October confirmed Stake Bank port had received all its requisite approvals and permits. However, permissions and approvals for the separate North Drowned Caye project and the proposed mainland causeway are subject to an active governmental review.

It's the government's view that the causeways and the North Drowned Caye development are 'not foundational to the cruise tourism sector' so the 'viability of the Stake Bank cruise facility, for its investors and financiers, is not contingent on the construction of causeways to the mainland.'

According to McFadden, Port Coral developer Michael Feinstein is confident of a positive outcome of the review.

Whatever decisions are reached, McFadden said Port Coral will improve the cruise passenger arrival experience because it substantially reduces the current lengthy 45-minute tender ride to Belize Tourism Village.

Port Coral plans to begin taking cruise line reservations in early 2022. 'We will welcome everyone and are looking forward to their support,' McFadden said.

He has been regularly briefing the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association operations committee and attended the recent FCCA Conference in Panama along with Feinstein and Alvaro Duron, GM of Port Coral Stake Bank Enterprises.

Port of Magical Belize project

In the Belize government's October statement, it also mentioned the Port of Magical Belize, envisaged for development south of Belize City, had 'received environmental approval, subject to a strict and detailed environmental compliance plan. The compliance standards for this project are particularly sensitive to eco marine protections and to the health of the coastal environment. If the standards of this plan are met, and if the operational and financial aspects of the project take shape, actual construction, under a strict monitoring regime, is, according to it developers, expected to commence in 2022.'

Proposed cruise terminal at Port of Belize

And, regarding yet another project, a proposed cruise terminal at the Port of Belize which has been under discussion for many years, the government stated 'the unfeasibility of the critical dredging component is now a matter of public record. While the promoters have offered an alternative, and public consultations have taken place on this alternative, a final determination remains pending from the [National Environmental Appraisal Committee].'

The statement continued: 'Cabinet is of the firm view, a view to be formalized as part of an imminent National Ports Policy, that a priority of this administration is to foster the development of modern, efficient and cost-effective cargo and bulk shipping port operations, a service that is essential to the health of the macro-economy and to private sector competitiveness. This policy priority is entirely independent of and cannot be dictated by the location or viability of any cruise port.'

Addressing the other cruise proposals, McFadden said of Port Coral: 'This is the only cruise port project in Belize that's under construction. It's moving forward. It's real.'

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