Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Miami-Dade County have reached an agreement to amend and restate a cruise terminal agreement regarding the construction of a new Cruise Terminal B at PortMiami.
Last year PortMiami served more than 5.3 mill cruise passengers, more than any other port in the world.
This new agreement guarantees the County a minimum of 1.3 mill NCL passenger moves annually, solidifying Miami as its exclusive homeport in South Florida, which is expected to generate about $24 mill in gross revenues starting Fiscal Year 2018, with an increase of 3% per year throughout the life of the agreement.
With the increase in cruise calls, around 155 new direct full-time jobs will be created.
This new cruise terminal will be able to accommodate vessels carrying 5,000 passengers. A ground breaking ceremony is scheduled for 26th April. Construction is set to be completed in the Autumn of 2019 on schedule to receive the ‘Norwegian Encore’, the newest ship of the ‘Breakaway Plus’ class.
“Investing in PortMiami’s infrastructure positions Miami as a global destination for visitors,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez. “The construction of a new cruise terminal with the capacity to berth an additional 5,000-pax cruise ship represents thousands of jobs and increased opportunities for our community. We are grateful for Norwegian Cruise Line’s continued partnership.”
“PortMiami is proud to be recognised as the cruise capital of the world, welcoming more passengers than any other port in the world,” said Chairwoman of the Miami-Dade County Economic Development and Tourism Committee, Rebeca Sosa.
“Norwegian Cruise Line’s partnership is a big win for the growth and expansion of tourism in Miami-Dade County. We are honoured by our partner’s commitment to PortMiami and Miami-Dade County,” she said.
“We are excited to partner with Miami-Dade County, the architects at Bermello Ajamil & Partners, and the team at NV2A and Haskell to create a modern and innovative terminal that will soon welcome guests to a premium experience that begins even before they embark and fully immerse themselves in what it means to cruise with Norwegian,” said Frank Del Rio, NCLH’s president and CEO.
Due to the increase in traffic, PortMiami has started using NOAA’s patented physical oceanographic real-time system (PORTS) navigational safety system.
PORTS is a decision-support tool that provides vessel operators with key environmental parameters in real time, including water levels, currents, waves, salinity, bridge clearance (air gap), wind speed and direction, air and water temperature and visibility. It is tailored to the specific needs of each port.
In Miami, strong currents from the Gulf Stream run perpendicular to the shipping channel. PORTS will give vessel pilots the accurate, real-time data to make navigational decisions to direct larger ships into port.
