BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, December 16, 2019 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – As the recently constructed second cruise pier at Port Zante hosted its first ships ever, many were in praise of the Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris-led Government of St. Kitts and Nevis for its foresight in conceptualizing, designing and actualizing of the world class facility.
Among those impressed with the construction of the new pier was the Captain of the Celebrity Summit, Mr. Ioannis Kasimatis. The Celebrity Summit was one of two vessels berthed at the second pier today (Monday, December 16).
Mr. Kasimatis spoke with the Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister, at which point he indicated that the multimillion dollar second cruise pier far exceeds the standards of cruise pier 1 at Port Zante.
“The new pier is very wide and it is much better actually than the previous one. For us, from a marine side of view you have enough fenders, enough boulders so it’s nice and safe with much better angle against the wind. So congratulations, this is amazing,” Captain Kasimatis said.
The Captain added that the second pier provides for much better orientation than the older pier at Port Zante “because on the [older] one you get the wind right from the beam. Here, you have a nice angle and a nice approach.”
Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, who was among the top government officials at Port Zante this morning, said he was heartened to hear the complimentary words expressed by Captain Kasimatis—an independent party.
“That was a blessing for me to hear in the context of the negativity,” Prime Minister Harris said, adding that while there is still work to be done “at least we know that [the second cruise pier] is functionally capable of doing what we intended it to do.”
The second cruise pier was designed to accommodate two Oasis-sized cruise ships, the world’s largest and longest passenger ships. Plans for the building of the pier also took into consideration withstanding the effects of adverse weather and harsh climate changes.
