Expansion Plan at Haiti’s Terminal Varreux
Haiti-based WIN Group and South Fla.-based Santé Holding announced having reached an agreement to re-develop Terminal Varreux, S.A. in Port-Au-Prince, the largest privately-owned shipping terminal and port facility in Haiti. The fourth generation WIN Group is a Caribbean conglomerates, with stakes in multiple industries. Santé Holding is headed by Charles Towsley, former director of the Port of Miami. Santé’s team is partnering with the Rovirosa family, marine port operators, who currently operate terminals in the Port of Miami and Port Everglades, Fla.
Stadium Financing Has Cruise Companies Calling Foul
A plan to build a $400 million bayfront ball park for the Florida Marlins is pitting the team's millionaire owner against Miami's powerful cruise industry and its billionaire patriarch. Boca Raton, Fla.-based hedge fund manager John Henry paid $150 million cash for the 1997 World Series champion Marlins after former owner Wayne Huizenga stripped the team of its talent and alienated fans. Key to Henry's plan to rebuild the losing team's roster and dwindling fan base is a retractable-roof stadium, which he wants to pay for with a $4 per-day tax levied on cruise passengers traveling through the Port of Miami. Henry's proposal, now moving through the Florida Senate, puts him head-to-head with the lightly taxed cruise industry and Carnival Corp.
Carnival Founder Honored with AAPA Cruise Award
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), the organization representing public ports throughout the Western Hemisphere, announced the selection of Ted Arison (1924–1999), former chairman of Carnival Cruise Lines, as the winner of its inaugural Cruise Award in recognition of Mr. Arison's leadership and vision in establishing modern, post-war passenger cruising. The posthumous award will be accepted by Vicki Tomasino, Carnival Cruise Lines’ Western Region vice president, at a February 8 luncheon during AAPA’s Cruise seminar in San Diego, Calif. According to a nomination submitted by Charles Towsley, Port of Miami's port director, “Mr. Arison established standards and set the 'model' for today’s cruise ships.
Port Execs to Discuss Hurricane Impacts and Recovery
As part of the American Association of Port Authorities’ 94th Annual Convention here next week (port executives from three of the worst-hit seaports in the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita will gather on Oct. 27, together with a Caribbean port executive whose facilities were ravaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Their goals are to compare notes, detail the challenges they faced (and may still be facing), and assess opportunities for improving preparedness and response to similar crises in the future. The “Hurricane Preparation and Recovery” panel comprises Gary LaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans…
