A step in the right direction…

How offshore technology opened way to revival of historic Port Royal

By John Tavner 

The decision by the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) to revive historic Port Royal, at the mouth of Kingston Harbor, as a cruise port has caused a ripple of excited anticipation in the cruise and tourism sectors.

Port Royal’s revival has been made possible by an ingenious system called SeaWalk, invented and designed in Norway and inspired by offshore technology, that allows passengers to disembark from a vessel moored a couple of hundred meters offshore by means of a floating platform. This allows a harbor with no purpose-built cruise quay to receive cruise ships.

Using the SeaWalk system, Port Royal – gateway to one of the world‘s most important archaeological sites – is due to receive its first cruise call on 20 January 2020 in the form of Marella Cruises’ vessel ‘Marella Discovery 2’, with a passenger capacity of 2,000-plus.

Read more...