Dowe Rubbishes Rumors Of VIPA Stonewalling Charlotte Amalie Dredging: '$17 Million Can Give You 36 Feet'
Let me make it abundantly clear, the Port Authority in no way shape or form wants to stop, wants to slow down, wants to hinder.” Those were the words of V.I. Port Authority Executive Director Carlton Dowe at the beginning of VIPA’s board meeting on Wednesday.
2023-08-17 17:27:07 - VI News Staff
Mr. Dowe was referencing a query sent by a local journalist about whether VIPA was trying to keep the West Indian Company (WICO) from being able to accommodate the largest class of cruise ship at the Havensight berth by limiting the depth of a pending dredging project in the Charlotte Amalie harbor.
Noting that a project application was submitted in 2018, subsequently withdrawn and resubmitted this January, Mr. Dowe read from the public notice published by the Army Corps of Engineers in reference to the resubmitted application. VIPA had asked the USACE to remove 260 cubic yards of material from the harbor’s entrance channel, turning basin and the WICO berth. The entrance channel was requested to be dug to a “controlling depth” of 40 ft. However, according to Mr. Dowe, the $17 million that has been set aside for the project by the administration can only pay for dredging down to 36 feet.
“The reason we went to meet with WICO is so we can discuss now, beyond the $17 million, beyond 36 feet, what that cost is and how that is to be paid for,” the VIPA executive director declared.
He went on to inform board members that according to the Army Corps of Engineers, Oasis-class vessels require a channel depth of 36 feet, which is what is covered under the allocated funding. "We can apply for any amount of dredging,” noted Mr. Dowe, but if the plan is to go deeper than 36 feet, “we must figure out how that is going to be paid for.”