Three major cruise lines yesterday denied or declined to specifically respond to claims that the inoperability of a large tug boat owned by the Port Department contributed to their inability to dock in Nassau on Monday.
The decision by the Disney, Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise ships not to dock as scheduled in the Port of Nassau was questioned on Monday after it led to a massive fall in business for downtown merchants.
Port Controller Patrick McNeil, in a statement issued on the matter that day, said the Allure of the Seas, the Carnival Conquest and the Disney Dream all failed to dock due to the effect of a weather system that had moved into the northwestern Bahamas on Sunday evening and continued to impact conditions in the port on Monday morning.
However, a source close to the Port Department, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed yesterday that cruise ship no-show could have been averted if a 4,000-horsepower tug boat operated by the Port Department had been operational.
The source blamed "poor management" for the fact that the "Amberjack" tug boat has remained inoperable for up to a year, leaving only a 3,500-horsepower "Snapper" tug to assist the cruise ships with docking.
The source called on the government to avoid future losses of business by ensuring the tug boat is fixed.
The source said that just over 18,000 passengers had been onboard the three ships.
The source's claims were echoed by certain downtown merchants, including one who told Guardian Business that he felt the inability of three major ships to dock in what is typically considered a "safe harbor" is "absolutely ridiculous" and could only be attributable to a failure on the part of the Port Department to offer a suitable tug boat to assist the cruise ships.
A store owner told Guardian Business that his sales fell by 80 percent as a result of the loss of cruise passenger business, and he had to send home 10 workers with pay.
But if there was any reason other than weather for the failure of the ships to stop in the Port of Nassau, the cruise lines were yesterday either unaware or not commenting on it, as none pointed to this as the cause of their decision to bypass Nassau.
Contacted for comment yesterday, a
Disney cruise lines representative, who declined to be officially quoted, said that high winds were to blame for the failure of the ship to dock, adding that she "had asked around and (was) not aware of anything about a particular tug boat" having created challenges.
Jennifer de la Cruz, vice president of public relations for Carnival Cruise Lines, said in a statement issued by email that the Carnival Conquest "was not able to dock in Nassau as a result of winds in excess of 50 knots".
De la Cruz declined to comment on specific queries put forward by this newspaper regarding whether problems had been exacerbated by the lack of a larger tug boat.
Meanwhile, Cynthia Martinez, director, global corporate communications, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., in response to the same queries, simply said the boat's scheduled call "was cancelled due to high winds".

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