The east / west ship’s channel in the “Great sound” at Stag rocks
was dug by a coal burning bucket hopper dredger named the “Lord Cochrane” ,the forward 3/4 of the length of the of hull was a divided
“U” shaped slot to accommodate the cubic yard bucket chain configuration, of a similar design and principal as the modern day street boom trench digger we see on our roads today.

The Lord Cochrane approximately 150 ft long ship would buck, when it hit the hard stuff,this vessel puffing black smoke was out there digging the 30 ft deep channel for months on end.”"
Most likely the “Lord Cochrane” dug out ” Town cut” and “two rock passage” channels.

There was another vessel at the time we referred to as the “Sand Sucker”
it was a massive floating water pump that pumped sand out ” Cavello bay” ferry terminal forming the beach to the North West at long point.

To see a small picture of the Lord Cochrane

Google to Bucket – hopper dredger : lord Cochrane
or
try http://www.gracesguide .co uk

I wonder how polluted the water became during W W 11 at the north and South Dockyard Cambers ?

I wonder what the bottom paint toxic level used on cruise ships which come here ?

I wonder in order to save money and time out of the water for dry docking ships, if the bottom toxic level is high ?

I wonder if those ship bottom paint applications have an adverse affect on reefs and fish.

“You cant make a cake if you don’t break a few eggs.”

As ships get larger beyond the design limit of a narrow channel, it becomes more and more difficult to control the hydraulic forces action on the ship during the passage, especially under extreme conditions. Our channels have only had minor dredging in the past and no change to their width.

Remember the North Channel was demanded by the US so their ships could have an alternate from NOB instead of only the South Channel. Now the larger ships going to Dockyard have only one option which will pose a problem if there is an issue (grounding/sinking) in the North Channel, the ship alongside Dockyard will become a permanent hotel until rectified.

If you look at a chart you will see there is very little reef in the South Channel which would be impacted by any dredging and the channel is quite wide, until getting to the Elbow. So only the depth will be of concern.

As for covering the reef and coral from dredging and silt, you only need to observe the Narrows and approaches off St George when it turns to milk due to a storm passing to know that nature flushes the silt away, otherwise the reefs of Sea Venture Flats would long have been dead.

I am not for widening and dredging simply for the sake of doing it but the island cannot live in a bubble and watch ships get larger and not respond. The choice has long been make improvements or not have a ship, as Hamilton and St George have discovered as the ships have surpassed those port’s entry design limits.

Take a look online in the North American market where the regular visitors sail from and see how many ships under 60,000 tons and under 725 foot length exist that could be currently accommodated in St George or Hamilton in their present condition…the answer is none.

The smaller ships can make more going up the Amazon or out of the way ports not served by the large ships and thus economics don’t lend themselves to positioning one here as a regular caller. Ultimately the decision will become, make improvements or not have a cruise industry.

Widening the channels will not benefit Hamilton nor St. George. Period.
We accommodate some of the largest vessels in the world on a draft basis and length.

The “Narrows is the Narrows and always will be. The North Channel and South Channel will always be due to nature and a few destructive coral reef removals years ago.

There is more to it than meets the eye.
All these mega ships will still end up at DocYard and basically can only handle two at one time.

Now, if you want to do all this then just widen, dredge Western Blue Cut et al. Straight in; straight out.
Or.Stop wasting money on surveys and destroying reef areas for a couple of extra bucks.

Crap. The only vessels that use the routes are cargo vessels during the off season which is basically almost 5 months.

There is no way to do this without eliminating coral reefs and breakwaters.

It’s all about ching ching and the more tourists that arrive off a vessel that can’t find a ride and costs them $100…….
Money in the coffers for a debt left…..

Shalom.

Stop trying to always look negative on the govt. & you just may be able to see the good of this for the whole of Bermuda.

If your plp was smart they would have done this at the same time they built the over price over budget dock in dockyard.

Reading is key…

“Vessels then can either proceed down the South or North Channel. One of these two channels will need to be modified in order to accommodate the new generation of cruise ships such as Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum class of ships.”

Also, no mention of the feasibility report from a few years back that was supposed to be the initiation of public discourse regarding whether we even have the infrastructure to support the visitor and crew numbers from more big ships.

Considering this has been on the table for a few years, government should not be ramming this through as quickly as they can, leaving inadequate time for the EIA. April 2014? Really, 3 months for scoping and public consultation? I guess I should be happy they’re doing an EIA at all?

Can I present Option 4 – no dredging of the marine environment, and not selling our souls for a cruise ship. Tourists come for our lovely marine life – why cover it in sand and silt from dredging?