Government officials from the Bahamas say that its shipping industry is no where near its full potential. Bahamas Maritime Minister Dion Foulkes has singled out the transshipment cargo industry as the target for an ongoing $300 million expansion of the Bahamas' port of Freeport.
This expansion project has scheduled construction to enable the port to handle even larger ships along with the upgrading of cargo and container handling facilities to advance capacity and efficiency.
“The whole question of inter-island shipping, shipping from Latin America through the Panama Canal and using the Bahamas as a transshipment point, can play a major role in our economy,” said Foulkes.
“This role could be a direct benefit to business in Nassau and the rest of the Family Islands,” added Foulkes.
Foulkes highlighted the fact that the Bahamas Maritime Authority, based in London and having the third-largest ship registry in the world, has contributed more than $50 million to the public treasury.
“We are convinced that with a very aggressive program of ship recruitment in terms of bringing more ships onto our register that we can rank as high as second in the next five years,” said Foulkes.
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) owns and currently operates the Freeport Container Port which was the Bahamas' first modern deep-sea container facility.
Reports say that HPH officials have always praised the potential of Freeport's strategic location to serve as a major container transshipment hub for global trade lanes.
Now HPH is in further partnerships with Bahamas authorities for greater expansion of port facilities.
This expansion project has scheduled construction to enable the port to handle even larger ships along with the upgrading of cargo and container handling facilities to advance capacity and efficiency.
“The whole question of inter-island shipping, shipping from Latin America through the Panama Canal and using the Bahamas as a transshipment point, can play a major role in our economy,” said Foulkes.
“This role could be a direct benefit to business in Nassau and the rest of the Family Islands,” added Foulkes.
Foulkes highlighted the fact that the Bahamas Maritime Authority, based in London and having the third-largest ship registry in the world, has contributed more than $50 million to the public treasury.
“We are convinced that with a very aggressive program of ship recruitment in terms of bringing more ships onto our register that we can rank as high as second in the next five years,” said Foulkes.
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) owns and currently operates the Freeport Container Port which was the Bahamas' first modern deep-sea container facility.
Reports say that HPH officials have always praised the potential of Freeport's strategic location to serve as a major container transshipment hub for global trade lanes.
Now HPH is in further partnerships with Bahamas authorities for greater expansion of port facilities.