MONTEGO BAY: The Port Authority of Jamaica will be investing some US$40 million to upgrade the Montego Bay Port to transform the facility into a regional, multi-purpose port which will accommodate more cruise shipping vessels as the demand for home porting rapidly intensifies. The announcement was made by Dr Horace Chang, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation during a press conference following a tour of the Montego Bay shipping terminal last week.
“The Port Authority intends to invest US$40 million in improving the port. There will be retrofitting of the current facilities. For example, the current cruise ship pier has to be improved significantly to support the traffic we are going to have with home porting. Some of the current warehouse space will also be changed and transformed, while new warehouse space will be acquired,” Dr Chang revealed. “We are expanding the berthing facilities so that we can take three cruise ships at any one time. The demand for home porting is growing and we have to make this required investment.