George Town Harbor News

The Cayman Islands government have banned cruise ships from anchoring at a port where their huge chains have damaged coral reefs, the AP reported. 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. A cruise ship anchoring for one day can destroy nearly an 1 acre (0.4 hectares) of intact reef, government officials said. Cruise ships capable of holding their position without anchoring will still be allowed to unload passengers in Spotts Bay, about 10 miles east of the capital. Source: AP

The island of Grand Cayman, which has long resisted building a cruise ship dock out of concern about environmental damage that would result from dredging a channel into George Town Harbor, has now decided to start development of a dock for four ships, according to Cruise Ship Report. The initial phase, an environmental impact assessment, has just started. Currently, cruise ships anchor off George Town, and tenders ferry their thousands of passengers back and forth to town. At some times of year, cruise ships are forced to skip scheduled visits to the island because the shallow waters off Grand Cayman are too rough for tendering. This is seen as inconvenient by major cruise lines whose ships visit Grand Cayman and prefer to be able to tie up at a dock…