Ports Authority confirms P3 deal for cruise ship ports to be announced this month
The Puerto Rico Ports Authority will announce the companies chosen to enter into a public-private partnership to repair, design run and manage the cruise ship ports in the San Juan bay.
Agency Executive Director Anthony Maceira confirmed the information after meeting with shipping agents and members of the of the Puerto Rico Shipowers Association to answer questions about the P3 process.
He said the P3 is in its final stage of evaluation of proposals. A Study of Desirability and Convenience of cruise terminals in Puerto Rico, commissioned by the Public-Private Partnerships Authority on June 2018 concluded that a P3 model of repair, design, build, finance, maintain and operate, is the most effective way to achieve a “world-class structure.”
Puerto Rico has “great potential to become a major player in the cruise industry, and the best way to further optimize the facilities and services to cruise lines is through outsourcing port operations,” Maceira said.
“In the hands of a private company, operations will be more efficient, bringing best practices to the island,” he said.
“The optimization of cruise terminals will certainly improve the island’s economic conditions, increasing tourism activities inside and outside of Old San Juan, in turn promoting economic development and job creation,” Maceira said.
“But this requires that private capital is invested in terminals, to bring them to world-class standards and to prepare for larger cruise ships with greater passenger capacity that will be put into service in the coming years,” he said.
In November 2018, the government announced the companies that qualified after participating in the Request for Qualifications process: Global Ports Holding, Puerto Rico Cruise Terminals Partners and San Juan Cruise Terminals Partners.
These consortia then submitted their respective proposals during the period that ended July 31, 2019.
Cruise terminals included in the P3 are Piers 1, 3, 4, and 11 to 14 in the San Juan zone, and Pan American I and II piers in Isla Grande.
