The Government’s $12.16m investment in restoring Nassau Harbour’s two breakwaters will help stabilise goods prices by minimising weather-related shipping disruption, it was asserted yesterday.

Michael Maura, Nassau Cruise Port’s chief executive, hailed the planned spend - divided into $6.08m annual slices and spread over two years - as a much-needed outlay that will ensure “uninterrupted operations” at New Providence’s major cargo freight port for both the location itself and the commercial shipping carriers that serve it.

Pointing out that the “quick, swift and efficient offload of goods” helps to “keep costs down”, an impact that is then passed on to Bahamian consumers in the prices they pay, he explained that the growing shipping disruptions caused by the deteriorating harbour breakwater protection are increasingly threatening to send these expenses in the wrong direction.

BISX-listed Arawak Port Development Company (APD) disclosed to Tribune Business earlier this year that five vessels were forced by the deteriorating harbour breakwater to wait out at sea during the three months to end-December 2024, and Mr Maura said the planned upgrades will have a “material impact” for the cargo port’s operations and be “money will spent”.

APD’s first-ever chief executive, and now its chairman, he acknowledged that the breakwater improvements - financing for which has been included in the 2025-2026 Budget for the Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs - have been a long time coming as the increasing deterioration was well-known.

“We have noticed a material decline in the Arawak Cay breakwater since Nassau Container Port established a presence at Arawak Cay,” Mr Maura told Tribune Business. “Back in 2011, when we began operations, notwithstanding the fact we formally opened in April/May 2012, in 2011 when we started there, the conditions of the breakwater were in a much better state.

“Over these past 13-14 years we’ve seen Mother Nature begin to punch holes in the breakwater and, once she’s been able to create a gap, that gap has become wider over time as more and more storms come out of the north-east and north-west. The wave energy coming through has just expanded those gaps, and they exist in multiple places.

“The other key breakwater is the western Paradise Island breakwater. That huge hap occurred 30 years ago, it not more. That, in itself, has become a material impact on the commercial shipping port because of the storms and the wave energy,” Mr Maura explained further.

“Once you have huge swells coming through that gap at the western end of Paradise Island, the wave energy ends up hitting the eastern end of Arawak Cay and runs down the channel.  It affects ships moored outside the Container Port attempting to dock or deploy the crane. It causes major issues.”

Mr Maura said the planned breakwater repairs and construction will also “mutually benefit that beach running [from the Western Esplanade] to Junkanoo Beach” because they will help restrict, and prevent, the wave energy that comes off Arawak Cay’s eastern end from shifting sand down towards The Pointe and British Colonial.

As a result, he suggested the Government’s investment will “have a meaningful impact from a supply chain perspective” by reducing, and eliminating, weather-related disruption to commercial shipping, and also have a social benefit by enhancing Junkanoo Beach and the Western Esplanade.

“I think that’s money well spent and I’m glad to see it,” Mr Maura told Tribune Business. “We had a ship that, not too long ago, because of the swells rode up on to our bulkhead and caused some damage to our bulkhead. We’ve had impact and cost delays from a supply chain impact, and delays getting goods such as milk on shop shelves.

“It’s good money is being spent in the upcoming fiscal year, and the next fiscal year, to resolve the issue... The more efficiently the port is able to operate, the more efficiently commercial shipping is able to operate. Ships make money when they move cargo, not when they are waiting offshore for the weather to subside.

“The easier and more efficient a landing we provide for those ships, and ways to quickly, safely and efficiently offload the goods, get containers back on the ship and take out any exports, the better for all of us as we are able to keep costs down.

“The potential for interruption with these weather-related delays drives costs up for the local port and drives costs up for ocean-going shipping companies.” The breakwaters, which function as Nassau harbour safeguards, have been in place since Majority Rule some 56 years ago but are “no longer able to absorb the energy from the ocean” especially at high tide or during rough weather.

This impacts “the channel” cargo vessels use to access Nassau’s major commercial shipping port, and complicates the work of APD staff, service providers and ship’s crew in unloading and working on the boat. The “roll”, or pitch, of cargo vessels in such circumstances can be between “six to ten feet up and down”, which is unforgiving on APD’s cranes and other equipment and results in significant wear and tear.

Dion Bethell, APD’s president and chief financial officer, in response to Tribune Business questions warned in February 2025 that the weakening harbour defences continue to impact “operational efficiency” during bad weather because cargo ships are unable to dock at its facilities due to the high waves.

“Regarding the breakwater repairs, there have been no further developments on its repair and remediation. We continue to experience operational disruptions during certain times of the year due to adverse weather conditions,” Mr Bethell confirmed.

“During the second quarter of 2025, we had up to five vessels waiting out at sea due to unfavourable weather conditions and the lack of adequate breakwater protection in the channel. This remains a concern as we work to maintain operational efficiency despite these challenges.”

While vessels can still safely enter and exit the Arawak Cay-based port, APD has previously said it “won’t compromise” on safety. Mr Maura, writing in the company’s 2024 annual report, said: “As a matter of urgency, we must pay special attention to mitigating factors that have begun to impinge on the quality of port operations from the maritime side.

“Our port partners must seriously address the now continuous degradation of Nassau Harbour’s western breakwater, which poses a clear danger to all port users onshore and offshore, especially the giant cargo carriers and the equally massive cruise ships that carry millions of dollars in cargo and thousands of passengers.”

And Mr Bethell, writing in the same report, added: “Last year, the continued disintegration of the breakwater located just to the west of Paradise Island simulated increasing concern. There were incidents of cargo ships impeded in unloading at Nassau Container Port owing to the powerful sea surges and high winds that prevailed some months ago.

“As climate change accelerates, it is bringing stronger hurricanes and sea surges to our archipelago and neighbouring regions. In the past, services might typically have been disrupted twice a year by high seas. However, this phenomenon has escalated to the point where, over summer 2023, cargo operations at Nassau Container Port were impacted on eight to ten days.

“As I have informed our primary constituents and the press several times, if salutary action is not taken, breakwater disintegration will continue to pose a serious threat to life and business at the port and its environs. It bears repeating that the negative effects will reverberate throughout The Bahamas’ import-driven economy,” Mr Bethell continued.

“I will again remind decision-makers that 90 percent of international shipping cargo passes through APD’s Arawak Cay facilities.... I reiterate that the current and daily state of the 56-year-old barrier negatively impacts ship and port operations and personnel, including APD staff, ships crews and stevedores loading and unloading docked vessels.

“Inclement sea conditions increase danger as the resultant ‘roll’ or ‘pitch’ of cargo vessels being worked can be between six to ten feet up and down. Such occurrences take a significant toll on APD’s cranes and other equipment.”