The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Carnival Cruise Line executives have pledged to transplant any coral that may be threatened by its multi-million Grand Bahama cruise port which will incorporate a significant amount of precast materials into its construction.

David Candib, Carnival’s vice-president for development and operations, global port and destinations, told a public consultation on the development’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): “As we continue to develop this project we learn more about using precast elements. It’s something we’re going to be introducing - and actually increasing the amount of precast units - in order to speed up the process and reduce wasted debris.

Constrcution work on Carnival’s Grand Bahama port is now scheduled to be completed in 2025. Mr Candib added: “We’re going to be transplanting coral colonies as well as coral mills. We’ve done this before all over the world, and we’ve got 20 plus years in coral mitigation, transplantation and restoration.”

Coral maintenance and protection were among the key concerns for Bahamians present on the virtual public consultation. Participants asked if Carnival would be creating artificial reefs from relocated corals post-construction.

Other concerns involved Carnival making proper consideration for coral tissue loss disease. To counter this, the cruise line has identified areas that may receive special consideration for new coral planting.

A Carnival representative said there will be “opportunities” for corals to be transplanted and thus ensure damage mitigation. “[Transplanting] is still an appropriate mitigation mechanism, because then we would be adding additional habitat and additional sub-strains for corals. There are likely some opportunities here for our planting team to restore corals at the impacted site,” they said.

The cruise line also pledged that there will be a minimal amount of dredging limited to a specific area of the project, representing less than one-third of its entire area. Corals in this zone will be moved and relocated.

“Within that footprint we have a pier which is approximately 816 feet long. Also with the breasting dolphins that are alongside at the coral, pier length is about 1,300 feet and - in the left trestle - that is 1,022 feet long,” said Mr Candib.

“The pier will be an open pile system that will allow water to flow freely. The dredger that Carnival has chosen was based on the conditions at the construction site and will be dredging just under 11 metres, so corals will not be affected at all.

“For mitigation reefs, the mitigation reef site is reserved for individual coral colonies. That reef site is approximately 5.3 acres, and that gives you an idea of the size of that location. That official reef will be 650 feet away from the coastline.”

Carnival will employ floating bags at the dredge site to transplant mitigation reef mounds. Once the dredging is completed, these reef mounds will be approximately 600 feet from the coastline as well.