By Art Marroquin, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/22/2008 11:23:37 PM PST
The Port of Los Angeles is hoping to maintain its reputation as the West Coast's largest and busiest cruise ship hub by building a new $1billion terminal capable of handling the next generation of super-size luxury liners.
But a dispute between port officials and community activists has come to a boiling point as both sides disagree over where, exactly, the new cruise ship terminal should be built.
Two months ago, port officials released six potential designs for cruise ship terminals as part of the larger San Pedro waterfront development plan. Among the ideas are proposals to build either one or two berths near Cabrillo Beach that are capable of handling larger cruise ships.
Port officials said the Outer Harbor Cruise Terminal would better accommodate the next generation of large luxury line vessels, projected to measure up to 1,400feet long and able to carry more than 5,000 passengers.
In March, the port will host the Mariner of the Seas, one of the larger ships operated by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines that typically carries 3,500 passengers and 1,500 crew members.
But the ship is so massive that it will have to travel down the narrow main channel in reverse - a cruise industry embarrassment that the Port of Los Angeles wants to eventually eliminate. "These ships have the option of going elsewhere if they cannot enter a berth the right way," port spokesman Arley Baker said. "The shipping lines want to go to
facilities that are equipped to accommodate them."
Two neighborhood councils and the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce have come out in support of a plan that calls for building a larger cruise ship berth near the existing terminals on the north end of the port.
Supporters of that plan say the port's proposed Outer Harbor Cruise Terminal could be minimally developed for occasional use by cruise ships, including times when all the other available berths are full.
"The chamber has, for many years, supported the position that the port build another cruise ship berth on the north end of the harbor," said Camilla Townsend, a former harbor commissioner who serves as president and CEO of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce.
"If, later on, there's a need to expand to the south, then we support the port's occasional use of berths down there," she said. "We're not ready for them to build a full-fledged terminal near Cabrillo Beach."
The Coastal and Central San Pedro neighborhood councils have said that a cruise terminal near Cabrillo Beach could wipe out recreational boating, partially because federal regulations require a significant amount of space between cruise ships and other vessels.
Opponents also argue that local streets would become clogged with buses ferrying ship passengers from parking lots on the north end of San Pedro to the new terminals.
"We can have a vibrant cruise industry without spreading it out over two parts of town," said Peter Warren, a member of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council.
"They will end up running 600 different bus trips daily from the parking lot down to the new terminal, which will lead to more traffic and more pollution," Warren said. "This plan is based on one big lie that a new terminal means more money."
The Port of Los Angeles served about 590,000 cruise ship passengers on 228 vessel calls in 2006, according to the latest available figures. Those numbers are expected to jump to 287 vessel calls, each carrying an average of 3,300 passengers by 2037.
Cruise operations at the port generate about $87.5million worth of regional wages, $281.9million in business revenue and $11.2million in state and local taxes, according to a 2006 port-funded study by Martin Associates.
At least one additional cruise berth is needed by 2010, or growth will be capped at 1.8million annual cruise ship passengers, according to Luis Ajamil of Miami-based B&A Associates, a cruise industry consulting firm that advises the Port of Los Angeles.
"If the port doesn't do anything soon, then business will flatten out and they will be unable to capture any more business," Ajamil said. "If you don't accommodate the super-sized cruise liners, then you will fall out of the business."
But those projected economic benefits might not be reaped by downtown San Pedro businesses if the proposed berths are built near Cabrillo Beach, according to Townsend.
"We want the people at the north end so they will support our downtown businesses," Townsend said. "Our fear is that if they put a terminal down there, people will bypass downtown San Pedro altogether."
Port officials have said they would work with Townsend on developing measures aimed at bringing cruise passengers to downtown San Pedro, primarily by mounting an aggressive marketing campaign.
"If we make San Pedro more of an L.A. waterfront type of attraction, then the image of this community - in the eyes of the travel market - is improved, and you will have people who might want to stay an extra day in the harbor community," Baker said.
The views of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce are not aligned with the larger Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, which supports efforts to build two new cruise ship berths near Cabrillo Beach.
"This location would be able to best handle the maximum flexibility needed to handle bigger cruise ships at the port," said Gary Toebben, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
"In many ways, this situation is like the airport, where they are making significant improvements to handle large aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing Dreamliner," Toebben said. "The same changes need to take place at the ports, which is one of the region's most important assets." art.marroquin@dailybreeze.com
"The Coastal and Central San Pedro neighborhood councils have said that a cruise terminal near Cabrillo Beach could wipe out recreational boating, partially because federal regulations require a significant amount of space between cruise ships and other vessels. "
I'm not at all sure that's a valid argument. It certainly hasn't happened here -
Well, apparently they don't have a turn basin big enough for the new mega ships.
Quote:
But the ship is so massive that it will have to travel down the narrow main channel in reverse - a cruise industry embarrassment that the Port of Los Angeles wants to eventually eliminate.
It's obvious that they need to do something in the near future because those big mega ships are already sailing!
The Serenade of the Seas had to reverse down the channel when we left for Hawaii in October. The Mariner will have to either back in or back out when she sails from San Pedro.
A few years ago, plans to enlarge LAX got shot down. The City of Los Angeles isn't very intuitive when it comes to spending money on the right projects. Just because one could increase revenue in the future, there will often be groups protesting expenditures if it doesn't directly benefit them. And the city is broke. I often check out the agenda for the City Council, so I'll try to see if the council will be discussing this anytime soon.
Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers
-
Centrum Deck
-
Cruise Places
-
United States
-
California
-
Rough sailing for cruise terminal
#
#
Linear Mode
