St Kitts to Have its own Dockage Facility for Superyachts
Soil has been excavated from the Great Salt Pond in the southern end of the Caribbean island of St Kitts and is the signal that work has finally started on the construction of a super yacht marina at Christophe Harbour.
Upon completion, the marina is expected to provide, 300 berths with 50-60 slips accommodating superyachts as large as 100 metres.
The marina will is expected to have a protected entrance and safe inner harbour and will become a designated port of entry with streamlined customs and immigration services.
Some say the site could not have been more naturally suited as a marina if a marine engineer had been given the opportunity to design it. Many believe the harbour is perfectly protected by nature, and this gives it the opportunity to become the best harbour site in the Caribbean.
Others are not so sure.
Local people have expressed concern that foreign investors are ripping the heart out of their island. One called it Devastating and another has said, “This is NOT a happy day for the environment or St. Kitts as we once knew it! They will totally destroy the ecosystem in and around the salt pond. This displacement of the natural salt pond is only the first step in destroying the island, the corals, the fish and St. Kitts.”
But local business does expect to benefit. The first phase of the project has been awarded to St. Kitts Marine Works Ltd., a local marine heavy machinery and construction company that has begun excavating and transporting structural fill over the northern and eastern edges of the salt pond to form the site of 40-plus new harbour front homes. The local company has been contracted for 12-14 months to execute the first phase, after which construction of the first piers and bulkheads on the western head of the hill will commence.
There are also plans to dredge material from over 30 acres out of the smaller salt pond to refill the valleys at the base of the golf course.
Of the twelve superyacht berths released onto the market 24 months ago the sales team responsible for their disposal claim that there are eight strong leads from yacht owners seeking to build docks up to 60 metres
The country’s Prime Minister The Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas applauded the project saying the project falls squarely within the development model of his government and had enormous social and economic ramifications to the island nations economy.