Port St. Maarten

PORT ST. MAARTEN

FROM NATURAL DISASTER TO SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITY

STEFANUTTI STOCKS BOTSWANA

|8

PORT ST. MAARTEN

CRUISE

MECCA Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Roger Lawrence, Port Operations Manager at Port St. Maarten Group of Companies, about how one of the world’s most-visited cruise ports is rebuilding stronger than ever after a devastating natural disaster.

1 | STEFANUTTI STOCKS BOTSWANA

How does Sint Maarten, a small Englishand Dutch-speaking island country with approximately 45,000 people, no mineral or petroleum reserves, and no local food production beyond small amounts of fish, end up having the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in the Caribbean and the fourteenth highest in the world, ahead of Kuwait, the United States, and even its parent country the Netherlands?

To find the answer, we have to go back to 1954, when Dr. A. Claude Wathey, a politician in the Democratic Party Sint Maarten, was elected to the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles representing the Windward Islands – St. Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius. At the time, St. Maarten was experiencing a population crisis, as salt exports ground almost to a halt and many residents

left the island to seek opportunities abroad.

Between 1943 and 1950, the population dropped from 2085 people to 1487.

Dr. Wathey’s great realization was that St. Maarten’s natural beauty represented another kind of commodity. Having been struck by the success of the tourist industry in Cuba after a visit in the late 1940s, Dr. Wathey promoted the development of the port facilities, and by 1980 Port St Maarten had a thriving cruise industry, registering 105,000 annual passengers. In 1989, the port recorded more than 600,000 cruise passengers, with over one million arriving in 2002, and two million in 2014, when Port St. Maarten celebrated their fiftieth anniversary of hosting cruise vessels. Today, the port is officially named the Dr. A. C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facility. “From a cruise standpoint,

we are considered the Mecca of the Caribbean,” says Roger Lawrence, Port Operations Manager at Port St. Maarten. “This has been achieved through all key stakeholders working together with the government to be able to ensure our cruise product continues to be a vibrant, relevant consumer offering.

Today, our operations fall under four pillars: Cruise, cargo, yachting, and real estate.”

ECONOMIC VITALITY It’s no exaggeration to say that Port St. Maarten is indispensable to the overall St. Maarten economy. “Our GDP is roughly $1.4 billion and roughly 37% of GDP, and approximately 36% of the jobs on St. Maarten were linked to the maritime industry,” says Mr. Lawrence. “Because we have no natural resources that can be exported, our economy

STEFANUTTI STOCKS BOTSWANA

|2

PORT ST. MAARTEN

“CURRENTLY WE ARE A 24/7 PORT, WITH A MARKET CONSISTING OF WEEKLY AND BI-WEEKLY CALLS FROM SOME OF THE WORLD’S TOP CARRIERS.”

is a service sector economy. It isn’t just cruise either. We are import-driven, and cargo feeds from cruise. If you have a vibrant cruise industry your cargo sector will automatically do well.”

As the cruise sector continues to grow in St. Maarten, so does cargo. “Our cargo throughput has increased 27% from 2011 to 2017,” says Mr. Lawrence. “This upward trend is forecasted to continue well into the future. Currently we are a 24/7 port, with a market consisting of weekly and 3 | STEFANUTTI STOCKS BOTSWANA

bi-weekly calls from some of the world’s top carriers, including CMA CGM Group, Tropical Shipping, King Ocean Services, and Seaboard Marine. We are a regional sub-hub for the Northeastern Caribbean for container transshipment services. Our cargo division has established itself as a competitive option and an efficient choice for shippers.”

Port St. Maarten has deep-water berths, modern equipment, a GLS software platform, and trained crane operators. “We’re

also soon rolling out a Port Community System, which will be an extension of our GLS Terminal Operating System,” explains Mr. Lawrence. “This will further enhance the port’s operational excellence.”

FROM DEVASTATION TO OPPORTUNITY In 2017, disaster struck St. Maarten, in the form of Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms ever seen in the Atlantic. The hurricane damaged or

destroyed an estimated 70% of homes, as well as restaurants, hotels, and vital infrastructure – including the port. It took several months for many local hotels and businesses to reopen, badly affecting the tourism industry.

Yet in only three months, cruise ships were able to stop at St. Maarten again, re-opening a vital source of income for many St. Maarteners at a time of crisis. Like other St. Maarten institutions, the port recognized the damage was an opportunity to rebuild

and even improve. “From a sustainable standpoint, our terminal terrain previously was primarily built of bricks,” says Mr. Lawrence. “We are now transitioning the terminal to concrete. Our cargo section is roughly 15 acres of property, which equates to about 60,000 square meters. We are looking to transition the entire terminal to concrete. This is in order to be better prepared for future storms and hurricanes, allowing us to make a quick full recovery and be back in operation within days.”

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT The port is also constructing a new training outpost, in a joint partnership with Global Port Training, from Belgium. “I recently visited Israel on a business conference and one of the key topics raised was the importance of globalization, privatization, and digitalization on the future of shipping,” says Mr. Lawrence. “It’s essential to ensure that all key partners at the port are fully trained and skilled to work, and that they have an understanding of new technologies coming into STEFANUTTI STOCKS BOTSWANA

|4

BACKBONE OF THE COMMUNITY. The Port of St. Maarten.

Tropical Shipping is proud to call the Port of St. Maarten a partner.

From helping to rebuild following Hurricane Irma to investing in clean energy and supporting the cruise and cargo industries, the Port of St. Maarten is the island’s economic foundation.

Thank you for more than 50 years of exceptional service.

5 | STEFANUTTI STOCKS BOTSWANA

tropical.com

PORT ST. MAARTEN

play. This training outpost will make sure the port is much more efficient. Prior to anyone being able to come to the port, staff will go through a training process. We’ll certify them before they can start work, and it’ll be used for re-certification every three years as well.

This will ensure our cargo sector maintains a high quality and efficient staffing capacity.”

Since 2012, Port St. Maarten has also been investing in renewable energy infrastructure, with six 4kW vertical axis wind turbines connected to the national grid. These turbines were selected to be quiet and were situated away from passenger areas of the port. Now, a whole new form of green energy is being introduced, in the form of solar PV. “When you think about it, solar energy is simply common sense in sunny St. Maarten,” explains Mr. Lawrence. “We installed a solar array, which is connected to the national grid and on average it generates 3kW. Solar energy can be produced even when the clouds roll in, so we are planning to install even more. This is something we started as a pilot project but has now become a central focus of our long-term strategy.”

WORKING TOGETHER “Following Hurricane Irma, the port was a key component in ensuring that our population was able to receive the necessary supplies and in preventing shortages that could lead to unrest,” says Mr. Lawrence.

“We achieved this by sitting down with our key stakeholders and with the government in order to ask the right questions and find the right solutions in a time of crisis after experiencing this natural disaster. We’re very aware of the importance of the port – it’s in our DNA. The next step is to increase collaboration between other ports in the Caribbean. The manner in which ports are evolving, we’re going to be more and more dependent on one another where port activities are concerned. Hopefully we can have discussions where we can see how to better ourselves and work together more. We want to discover complementary areas where we can share services and know-how.”

Today, St. Maarten’s cruise sector has returned to full strength. In the first half of 2018, the island received 733,666 cruise

passengers, and in November 2018, the largest cruise ship in the world, Symphony of the Seas, called at St. Maarten for the first time. “This shows our resilience and the manner in which we recovered,” says Mr. Lawrence. “Our cruise sector is already at 100% operational capacity, while our cargo section is at 96% operational capacity. There are some areas in cargo right now that we are busy repairing as well as developing for the future. Nonetheless, we ended the year with over 20% increase in imports, which illustrates resoundingly that our recovery efforts are in full swing.

We want to emphasize where we were last year after being struck by one of the worst hurricanes that's ever been seen here, and where we are now. The major cruise lines have returned, demonstrating that the country is open for business, and at the same time showing the continued support and commitment from the cruise sector for the destination. It shows the resilience of our people. It shows if you work together as a port, with key stakeholders both internal and external, you can definitely prevail.” c STEFANUTTI STOCKS BOTSWANA

|6

Port St. Maarten A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facilities J. Yrausquin Boulevard P.O. Box 5185 Harbour Village Suite #13A Point Blanche T: (721) 542-8504, 542-8503 E: comments@portstmaarten.sx www.portstmaarten.com

SUSTAINABLE

B U S I N E S S

M A G A Z I N E

SBM Media Ltd, The Henderson Business Centre, 51 Ivy Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR5 8BF, UK T: +44 (0)1603 516519 E:mail: info@sustainablebusinessmagazine.net www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net

7 | STEFANUTTI STOCKS BOTSWANA