PUERTO RICO DRY DOCK
Dry dock’s revival gets go-ahead
PIER 15
I
t’s been a long time coming, but the Puerto Rico Ports Authority (PRPA) has finally found an operator willing to fully restore San Juan’s derelict dry dock. The facility, the only one of its kind in Puerto Rico and the wider Eastern Caribbean, and located at Pier 15, was initially completed in 1941 and operated at that time by the US Navy. It was subsequently taken over by the PRPA, but has not been used for nearly 20 years during which time it has fallen into disrepair. The graving dock is 205 meters in length and 28 meters wide. As part of a public private partnership (PPP), the PRPA has chosen local investors Isla Borinquen LLC, headed by former baseball star Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez, to develop, finance, re-habilitate and then operate the graving dock. Isla Borinquen will put up US$12 million to rebuild the dry dock, install new dock gates and complete various other work. Isla Borinquen will then pay a monthly rental fee for the facility to the PRPA and the Authority will receive 5% of the yearly gross income from yard operations and will also charge a dockage fee to vessels
using the facility. The dry dock deal is part of the wider redevelopment by PRPA of the port section.
PROCESS The process in awarding the dry dock operation to Isla Borinquen dates back to August 2020 when PRPA executive director Joel Pizá-Batiz opened a ‘Request for Proposals’ process to find a private operator to establish a maintenance, repair and overhaul service center for various types of vessels, including commercial, yachts and mega yachts. The proposal was awarded to Isla Borinquen in January, and the company and the agency signed an MOU in April establishing the contract’s terms and conditions.
PUERTO NUEVO
A LONG HISTORY
The PRPA is also seeking outside interest to develop, operate, manage, and improve Piers M, N & O, located in the Puerto Nuevo port area of San Juan. PRPA says this is needed to optimize the 18.7 acre area, which offers 365 meters of quay length, for stevedoring as well as the installation and utilization of cranes for the handling of cargoes, and potential temporary storage. This area of the port is currently used for the unloading of vehicles.
San Juan’s drydock played an important role in the repair and redeployment of battleships, aircraft carriers and other naval vessels during World War II, but by 1947 the US Navy had ceased operations at the yard. In 1950 it was re-opened and leased by the local foundry and engineering firm Sucesores de Abarca & Co. In 1979 operations were transferred to
32 Caribbean Maritime | October- January 2022
In a further development, the PRPA has submitted a grant application to the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration, for US$ 10 million to cover around 80% of the cost associated with the wider rehabilitation of operations at Pier 15. The funding was requested under the Port Infrastructure Development Program. The PRPA wants to reconstruct, rehabilitate and enhance the structural capacity of the berth as well as Dock B. At the same time, the Authority is looking to design and construct a pier to handle regional ro/ ro traffic.
shipping agents Pérez y Cia, which continued to run the yard until 1999 when the Puerto Rico government purchased the graving dock from the US federal government and the Puerto Rico Ports Authority assumed management of the facility. After one or two false starts, it will have taken over 20 years to get the shipyard back in service.
