New locally built cruise tenders enter service
If you think that the new boat in the Bahamas is hot,(referring to previous story from the Caribbean) then the pair featured in the next story will really get you excited. They are the products of local maritime tradition and craftsmanship combined with modern materials and technology. Very shortly they will rule the seas of Belize.
Stewart Krohn
At fifty feet in length, they are the biggest fiberglass boats ever built in Belize. Crucial to the development of the cruise ship trade, the tenders Michelle and Ashanti, will each carry one hundred passengers in any weather, in maximum comfort.
Martha Williams, Maritime Estates Ltd.
“Nine years ago Mike and I started marketing to the cruise industry and eventually because of the number of lines wanting to call to Belize, we realised that we did not have the proper infrastructure to service the big ships from ship to shore. So we looked at the numbers and realise that we might as well get into this because as ships agents it is our responsibility to bring the ship passengers from the big ship to shore.”
With no deepwater habour or wharf where cruise ships can dock, Belize’s biggest draw back as a cruise destination has always been the lack of transport to shore. These two fifty foot vessels will at least begin to fill the vacuum.
Martha Williams
“They will solve the problem initially, but with what we have on line right now…For instance today I just got two more ships wanting to come to Belize, and you are looking at fifteen hundred passengers per ship. If you have two of those ships in the harbour at one time, you’ll probably need four.”
Having already built two, at a price of four hundred and sixty thousand dollars each, two more would fit right in at Bradley’s Boatyard. For manager Steve Bradley, the growth of the business has been a natural progression.
Stephen Bradley, Bradley’s Boatyard
“In 1990 when we started to build the Pelican twenty-five, that was the big boat then. Then in ’95 we had jumped to the thirty-five-foot boat and now we are as big as fifty feet. So I would definitely say there’s a serious possibility that in the next couple years we may have something bigger than fifty feet.”
With the boats now ready for the water, Bradley has the confidence of experience, but when Mike and Martha Williams set out to acquire their dream craft, the decision to go local was a risky one.
Martha Williams
“We did look outside and we were quoted a price for a three hundred passenger tender, one point five million U.S. We came here and we spoke to Stephen and the price was drastically lower for two one hundred passenger tenders. And the quality or work is excellent, I mean you can’t beat this. It’s all hand done, the fiberglass is all handcrafted and you can come here everyday and sit and watch this boat being built from the beginning. So it was really…I just wanted to be part of the whole thing.”
Construction actually started in October and for the boatyard it was just like building a twenty-five foot skiff… only much bigger.
Stephen Bradley
“Basically the construction process is the same. The way we go about designing the boat and the way we go about doing the actual fiberglass work is all the same, it’s just on a much larger scale. This obviously is a lot more difficult because they have inboard engines and there’s a lot more that has to be taken in consideration from the very onset when the fiberglass is being laid in the mold. So it’s a lot more work, but it’s not very different.”
And the process was made much easier by the fact that the man who designed the vessel, the legendary Denys Bradley, was never far away.
Stephen Bradley
“I always give my dad the credit in that department. He’s really the man with the brains you could say and I think his nickname around the yard is “The Wizard.” His resources are the one we actually tapped into and without him this project would definitely not have been possible at all.”
Reporting for News 5, Stewart Krohn.
The Michelle and Ashanti are powered by twin turbocharged Caterpillar diesels and are designed for a top speed of thirty-eight miles per hour. They will not go into cruise ship service until November and in the meantime are available for charter from Maritime Estates Limited at Fort Point.
