Vessels carrying crew and equipment arrived in Belize at the beginning of this month from China to build the Stake Bank Enterprise’s cruise ship docking facility.
Called the Port Coral project, Chile and Panama-based Intercoastal Marine was awarded the contract to build two large cruise ship berthing piers, capable of handling four mega cruise ships simultaneously.
This facility has received full government approval and has also been permitted as a port of entry and exit. Completion of the piers is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.
The government said that this schedule is very timely, since it is expected that the majority of Belize’s population will be vaccinated against Covid-19 this year, therefore the country’s cruise tourism industry can commence with an influx of ship calls.
This will mean thousands of jobs, which will drive the country’s unemployment down. In addition, by giving the cruise ships berths, thus eliminating the dangerous mid-sea transfers by tender, it is thought that almost all of the passengers will disembark to see the country.
At the same time, Stake Bank Enterprise said it is finalising engineering plans for the construction of a causeway that will connect Belize City to Stake Bank Island (Port Coral).
The causeway has also been fully approved and will be built as a two lane vehicle elevated bridge to allow for continuous access to Port Coral.
Port Coral’s construction started in May, 2020 concentrating on the large buildings, a swimming pool, a shopping plaza and land improvements.
