Sept. 20--Port of Palm Beach officials are in nego
Post# of 11107
Posted On: 09/24/2014 6:41:47 AM
Sept. 20--Port of Palm Beach officials are in negotiations with a Fort Lauderdale-based company that wants to launch a new multi-day cruise ship that would sail to and from Nassau.
PV Enterprises International Inc. also has long-range plans to build a 1,200-vehicle parking garage at the port on the site of a parking lot to the north of its administration building. The facility might also include a restaurant and shops.
Jarra Kaczwara, the port's senior director of business development, said the company plans to charter a 1,700-passenger ship that would be 631 feet long.
The company said it would deliver a required $50,000 "good faith" payment to the port on Friday. It also must demonstrate it has $1 million in the bank to enable it to charter a cruise ship.
PV Enterprises Chief Financial Officer Athanasios Sousourgiannis said the company sails in the Mediterranean, but declined to provide details about the plans to cruise out of the Port of Palm Beach. The company's website states it is a global shipping management company.
Port commissioners approved a letter of understanding late Thursday, which allows the port staff to begin negotiations. The negotiating period would extend through Nov. 30 and either party could end the talks at any time.
If the plans succeed, the ship would join the popular Bahamas Celebration at the port as soon as the end of this year or in January. The Celebration, run by Celebration Cruises, heads to Freeport, Bahamas, and offers two-night cruises and cruises that include a resort stay. Rates start at $119 per person, not including taxes.
Manuel "Manny" Almira, the port's executive director, said that the Celebration experienced a 7 percent increase in passengers this August compared to August 2013.
From Oct 1, 2013, through Aug. 30, the Celebration carried of 330,616 passengers compared to 313,102 for the same period a year ago, said port spokeswoman Julie Houston Trieste.
The day cruise gambling ship Island Breeze, which is in dry dock in South Carolina, carried 11,085 passengers from March through June. It is slated to return to the port by mid-October, Almira said.
W. Bradford Gary, a Palm Beach resident, said he would welcome an additional cruise ship to the port. A number of Palm Beachers have objected to Stonerock Shipping Corp.'s ongoing scrap metal operation at the port.
"What this port does really well is cruises," Gary said.
Stonerock's permit from the city of Riviera Beach expires Sept. 30, and it is applying for a new permit. Almira said there is no reason to think it will not be issued a new permit.
In other business, the commission approved its fiscal year 2015 budget of $15.8 million, down from the 2014 adopted budget of $16.3 million.
Rental income accounts for 27 percent of the port's operating revenues at $4.2 million. That is followed by cargo related fees including wharfage, 20 percent and dockage, 10 percent; passenger charges, 18 percent; parking, 10 percent; other fees 9 percent and miscellaneous, 6 percent.
Acquire Media
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/ma...253_4858-1
PV Enterprises International Inc. also has long-range plans to build a 1,200-vehicle parking garage at the port on the site of a parking lot to the north of its administration building. The facility might also include a restaurant and shops.
Jarra Kaczwara, the port's senior director of business development, said the company plans to charter a 1,700-passenger ship that would be 631 feet long.
The company said it would deliver a required $50,000 "good faith" payment to the port on Friday. It also must demonstrate it has $1 million in the bank to enable it to charter a cruise ship.
PV Enterprises Chief Financial Officer Athanasios Sousourgiannis said the company sails in the Mediterranean, but declined to provide details about the plans to cruise out of the Port of Palm Beach. The company's website states it is a global shipping management company.
Port commissioners approved a letter of understanding late Thursday, which allows the port staff to begin negotiations. The negotiating period would extend through Nov. 30 and either party could end the talks at any time.
If the plans succeed, the ship would join the popular Bahamas Celebration at the port as soon as the end of this year or in January. The Celebration, run by Celebration Cruises, heads to Freeport, Bahamas, and offers two-night cruises and cruises that include a resort stay. Rates start at $119 per person, not including taxes.
Manuel "Manny" Almira, the port's executive director, said that the Celebration experienced a 7 percent increase in passengers this August compared to August 2013.
From Oct 1, 2013, through Aug. 30, the Celebration carried of 330,616 passengers compared to 313,102 for the same period a year ago, said port spokeswoman Julie Houston Trieste.
The day cruise gambling ship Island Breeze, which is in dry dock in South Carolina, carried 11,085 passengers from March through June. It is slated to return to the port by mid-October, Almira said.
W. Bradford Gary, a Palm Beach resident, said he would welcome an additional cruise ship to the port. A number of Palm Beachers have objected to Stonerock Shipping Corp.'s ongoing scrap metal operation at the port.
"What this port does really well is cruises," Gary said.
Stonerock's permit from the city of Riviera Beach expires Sept. 30, and it is applying for a new permit. Almira said there is no reason to think it will not be issued a new permit.
In other business, the commission approved its fiscal year 2015 budget of $15.8 million, down from the 2014 adopted budget of $16.3 million.
Rental income accounts for 27 percent of the port's operating revenues at $4.2 million. That is followed by cargo related fees including wharfage, 20 percent and dockage, 10 percent; passenger charges, 18 percent; parking, 10 percent; other fees 9 percent and miscellaneous, 6 percent.
Acquire Media
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/ma...253_4858-1
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