Marine services
Supporting cruise ships and cargo vessels The Marine Services Department of Barbados Port Inc. is responsible for the supply of pilotage, towage and mooring services to all vessels at Bridgetown Port. It also coordinates the provision of aids to navigation. These include lighthouses and buoys such as those marking the approach channel to the Deep Water Harbour, wrecks and submerged breakwaters. As each ship enters Bridgetown, experienced BPI pilots are on hand to brief the captain and crew on weather and tides and guide them to their assigned berth. The pilots also assist with berthing and unberthing of vessels at the Spring Garden Tanker anchorage, just north of the port; at the Arawak Cement Plant in the north of the island; and at the tanker anchorage at Oistins in the south, where most of the aviation fuel for the airport is received. The role played by BPI Marine Services has been a key factor in Barbados becoming a major homeporting destination in the southern Caribbean.
Off port limits services The Marine Services Department provides off port limits (OPS) services including fresh water delivery, fire-fighting, rescue and medical assistance. The strategic location of Barbados and its good reputation for safety and services have led to this range of services being expanded to tankers in transit
between the US Gulf and the Far East, particularly for stores replenishment, repairs, and at-sea exchanges of crew. Bridgetown has become a port of choice for these tankers and the Marine Services Department continues to perform these OPS services two miles offshore. BPI has entered into a strategic alliance with the international tug operator Svitzer with a sale and leaseback agreement relating to the port tugs ‘Barbados II’ and ‘Pelican II’. This provides an opportunity for general capacity building as well as for improved operational efficiency and enhanced port services.
Making history As stated earlier, BPI has six cadets enrolled in a training programme at the Caribbean Maritime Institute in Jamaica. These four Navigating and two Engineering cadets have completed most of the academic requirements of their four-year course and will complete the final examinations in 2017 to achieve their Officer in Charge of Navigating Watch (OICNW) designation.
Barbados Port Handbook 2017-18
29