April 22, 2008 — After years of being passed by thousands of revenue-bearing cruise ships, St. Croix is back on the itinerary for cruise-ship calls.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has included St. Croix on the itineraries of two of its large ships, Gov. John DeJongh Jr. announced Tuesday afternoon. Both the Adventure of the Seas and the Serenade of the Seas will call at St. Croix starting in 2009.
The ships will call year round, bringing more than 5,000 tourists to St. Croix every two weeks. The return of the ships is not without a cost, however. Royal Caribbean has asked for modifications to the channel to accommodate the large ships, which will require significant investment by the Port Authority.
The 28.6-foot draft of the Adventure of the Seas requires seven feet of clearance below the hull, meaning dredging will be needed to make waters at the Frederiksted Pier channel two feet lower than their present depth of 34 feet.
The additional depth is also needed to mitigate the effects of the considerable swell on St. Croix.
Before the Government House announcement, board member Gordon Finch raised concerns in the Port Authority board's monthly meeting about the cruise line's commitment to bringing large ships to St. Croix.
Royal Caribbean asked for dredging to 34 feet in the past, and VIPA had the channel dredged per the cruise line's requirements.
"But not one single ship came." Finch said.
Now the cruise ships say they will come if they have 36 feet, Finch said: "Hopefully they will keep their word."
Despite Finch's concerns, the board voted unanimously to authorize VIPA staff to look into the dredging effort.
The quantity of material to be dredged in Frederiksted is very small, said Dale Gregory, the agency's director of engineering. He estimated that about 600 yards needs to be removed from the channel and beside the docking platform, which would take about five days.
The dredging would be most cost-efficient if the project can piggyback on a dredging project on St. Thomas, eliminating or reducing mobilization costs, Gregory said. Mobilization costs in the past were $170,000, with demobilization running $69,000.
"If there isn't any other work in the area, it would be very costly," Gregory told the board. "We estimate $69,000 if we can piggyback on a St. Thomas project."
Coastal Zone Management permits for the dredging are in place and will not expire before 2010, board member Robert O'Connor said.
No expenses have been allocated for environmental monitoring, Gregory noted.
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