Contractor claims ships too large for pier caused damage

POINTE BLANCHE--Deputy Prime Minister/Harbour Affairs Minister Theo Heyliger says Dutch construction company Ballast Nedam is not accepting responsibility of the "significant structural damage" to Cruise Pier I and claims that the damage resulted from the berthing of cruise ships too large for the pier.

Heyliger said the contractor claimed "it was not a fault of their design, but us putting too large ships on the pier." He added, "The fact is no cruise ship was moored alongside the pier during any hurricane. It is not ship damage, but hurricane damage."

"St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies and Ballast Nedam are in talks about the Cruise Pier I," said Heyliger during the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday.

"It looks like the matter will become a long-drawn-out process that could take years to be resolved," said Heyliger. "The country cannot wait for the outcome of this matter, and other possibilities are being looked into to get the pier repaired and finding the right time to carry out the work."

Those talks also extended to the damage to the revetment of the mega-cruise ship pier that was built by Ballast Nedam in partnership with Danish firm Per Aarsleff. Unlike the situation with Cruise Pier I, the contractor has agreed to make those necessary repairs.

The almost 12-year-old Cruise Pier I came with a 15-year guarantee from the contractor and it is that guarantee that the Harbour Group wants to activate to cover the extensive repairs.

The damage to the country's main pier was uncovered during an engineering survey commissioned by the Harbour Group. That report has linked the damage to the under-section of the concrete deck and to the pier joints that allow it to move during heavy swells caused by successive hurricanes.

According to Heyliger, "Both piers are self-insured, because the cost of the insurance far exceeds the cost to replace the piers."

An agreement for an account to be set aside for the "insurance" was made with the bank financing the piers. However, that would only cover about 50 per cent of the amount needed to replace the pier. The cost of repairs to Cruise Pier I will be US $10-15 million, said Heyliger.

Cruise Pier I is the regular berth for Post-Panamax cruise ships that visit the country, excluding Oasis of the Seas and sister ship Allure of the Seas. Those two ships are accommodated on the mega-cruise ship pier designed for ships of more than 220,000 tonnes. Post-Panamax describes ships that can pass through the new Panama Canal locks and are comparable to Royal Caribbean's Voyager Class.

Voyager Class ship Adventure of the Seas, 137,276 tonnes, launched in 2001, and Carnival Dream, 130,000 tonnes, launched in 2009, are two of the larger cruise ships that berth at Cruise Pier 1.

Cruise Pier I, inaugurated in 2001, was designed to accommodate cruise ships of the size already on the seas at that time, and what were then considered the further larger vessels, ships of more than 130,000 tonnes.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/19346-contractor-claims-ships-too-large-for-pier-caused-damage.html

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