The shipping platform

Location: Freeport is situated on the SW side of Grand Bahama Island at the mouth of Hawksbill Creek. The island is located 90nm NE of Miami. General overview: It is an important cruise vessel port of call and repair centre. The harbour can accommodate 8 cruise vessels at the same time. Container, Ro-Ro and general cargo vessels are also handled. Because of its closeness to the USA, a number of companies have moved their transhipment business to the port. The tanker terminal is operated by the Bahamas Oil Refining Corporation (BORCO). The port covers an area of 72 hectares, with a draught of about 16.1 m and the docks are 1037 m long. It can accommodate ships weighing not more than 16,100 TEUs. Freeport Container port has 3 wharves with an average depth of 15 m, 755 reefer plugs, a storing space spanning 56 hectares with an annual handling capacity of 1.5 million TEUs. The port equipment includes 6 mobile cranes, 4 floating cranes, lifts with a capacity of 50 to 100 tonnes etc. Apart from containers, the port also deals with all kinds of non-containerised heavy cargo. It also offers a cold storage facility for certain containers. 47 acres of additional land has been kept aside for the further expansion of the port and expansion of logistics services. Its productivity is the highest compared to the other ports in the region. It can handle the world’s largest container vessels. The port has undergone numerous phases of expansions and after the completion of the expansion project, the port would comprise a total of 9 berths measuring 2750 m, with 27 dock cranes and an increased container handling capacity of 3.5 million TEUs. Imports: Agricultural products and building supplies. Exports: Seafood, aggregates and agricultural products. Traffic figures: Approx 2,210 vessels, 280,000t of cargo and 1,100,000TEU handled annually. Load line zone: Summer. Max size: - Harbour: Draught: 13.0 m. - Offshore jetty: ULCC, LOA: 426 m, draught: 27.7 m, 500,000 DWT. The largest vessel called at the port: LOA: 367 m, draught: 16.2 m, deadweight: 167,295 t.