By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Nassau’s major commercial shipping port beat projections for the first month of its 2026 financial year by double digits for all major imports, it was revealed yesterday, following last year’s 14.7 percent profits jump.

Dion Bethell, BISX-listed Arawak Port Development Company’s president and chief financial officer, in response to Tribune Business inquiries disclosed that it had experienced a strong July with twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) container, vehicle and bulk aggregate imports ahead of forecasts by 10 percent, 21 percent and 73 percent respectively.

Container volumes hit 6,967 for the first month of APD’s 2026 reporting period, while vehicle arrivals stood at 1,923 and bulk aggregate imports at 58,791 tons. While container and bulk aggregate volumes maintained the trends seen for the 12 months to end-June 2025, with year-over-year increases compared to 2024, the July results represented a reversal of the prior year’s fall in vehicle imports.

Vehicles arriving at APD’s facilities at Arawak Cay dropped by 2.3 percent year-over-year to around 19,300 for the 12 months to end-June 2025, Mr Bethell told this newspaper, although TEU and bulk aggregate volumes finished 3.3 percent and 22.6 percent higher, respectively, than 2024 at 73,084 containers and 417,947 bulk tons.

APD’s total comprehensive income for the year to end-June jumped by more than $1.7m, or 14.7 percent, to $13.663m as opposed to $11.91m in 2024. Mr Bethell said the port operator’s bottom line had exceeded the company’s own internal forecast of $11.7m by around $2m or 17.3 percent.

Revenues were ahead of projections by $2.6m or 7.1 percent, closing the 2025 financial year at $38.6m compared to forecasts of $36m, while operating income or earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood some $2m or 10.9 percent above budget at $20.3m compared to the $18.3m predicted.

The only ‘negative’ was operational expenditure, which exceeded APD’s targets by $575,000 or 3.2 percent to close the year at $18.3m compared to the prior year’s $17.7m. “We delivered a strong financial performance for the full year 2025, with revenue up 7.9 percent year-over-year and 7.1 percent to budget,” Mr Bethell told Tribune Business.  

“Growth was positive throughout all revenue lines year-over-year except dockage, which was slightly behind prior year earnings by 8.9 percent.” He added that landing fees rose by $432,000 or 2.8 percent year-over-year for the 12 months to end-June 2025, while terminal handling fees increased by $281,000 or 5.3 percent and rental income jumped by $327,000 or 21.7 percent.

Reefer income increased by $252,000 or 19.5 percent year-over-year, while stevedoring fees rose by $806,000 or 42.8 percent compared to 2024. Against APD’s budget forecasts, the main revenue drivers were a $721,000 or 22.1 percent rise in stevedoring fees, plus the $398,000 or 7.6 percent growth in terminal handling fees. Storage fees and reefer income were also up against budget forecasts.

Mr Bethell, though, said APD had lost out on the bid to operate Abaco’s Marsh Harbour commercial shipping port although he did not name the winner, while voicing relief that the entire Bahamian shipping industry - as well as businesses, consumers and the wider economy - had been spared the impact of the initial proposed US levies on Chinese-made ships calling at US ports.

“We are aware that the Marsh Harbour project was awarded to another entity that responded to the RFP (request for proposal),” he added. “We continue to focus on our ESG (environmental, social and governance) initiatives and strategic value initiatives. The current market volumes are not expected to increase significantly beyond some of the projects ongoing and forecasted for New Providence.  

“We have focused on non-TEU generating investments to reduce our financing costs while also adding non-TEU generated revenues to our statement of comprehensive income, thereby contributing positively to our bottom line.”

As for the US decision not to proceed with the originally-planned Chinese-made ship fees, Mr Bethell said: “The decision by the US not to impose the proposed fee on Chinese-built vessels was significant for APD, the wider shipping industry and The Bahamas.

“Such a fee would likely have increased operating costs for many of the international carriers serving our market, and those costs would have ultimately been passed on to importers and consumers. By avoiding this additional burden, we have maintained a more stable cost environment for shipping services, which is critical in an import-dependent economy such as The Bahamas.

“This outcome supports both the competitiveness of our business model and helps to ease upward pressure on the cost of living for Bahamian households.” Mr Bethell said preliminary site works have begun at the location next to APD’s property that will house the liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelled power plant supplying energy to cruise ships docked in Nassau.

“APD will benefit and be impacted by this project in terms of deliveries and transfer of LNG over its bulkhead and property. As well as from any project cargo for the construction of the LNG plant,” the APD chief said.

As for the long-awaited repairs to the Nassau harbour breakwater, Mr Bethell said: “We note that the Government of The Bahamas has allocated for the repair of the breakwater in the 2025-2026 Budget. We have not received any recent official status update on this project from the Ministry of Works.”

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.

While vessels can still safely enter and exit the Arawak Cay-based port, APD has previously said it “won’t compromise” on safety. Mike Maura, APD’s chairman, wrote in the company’s most recent annual report: “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.”