Government last night stressed it has no plans to bring in post-Panamax cruise ships, following concerns about potential modifications to the shipping channels.

The Royal Gazette asked for clarification on the issue after it emerged that a feasibility study is underway.

According to a letter from architects Conyers and Associates Ltd. to Planning on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Transport, the Department of Marine and Ports began the study last summer.

The details emerged in the Planning file for the retroactive application for Phase Two of the second cruise ship pier at Dockyard.

Architects and agents Conyers and Associates said modifications to shipping channels "would be necessary for the very largest post-Panamax vessels to maintain adequate depth and manoeuvrability".

The letter, dated February 6, said: "It was determined however, that for the largest cruise ship types currently scheduled to utilise the new second Cruise Ship Terminal and the existing Kings Wharf Terminal (Voyager and Freedom Class) over the next several years, no modifications to the marine channels would be required."

The architects said any future channel modifications would need a feasibility study, an Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Impact Statement.

Conyers and Associates said: "Marine and Ports have recently (mid-2008) commenced the early stages of the feasibility study by conducting a series of channel surveys designed to assess the present width and depth of all local channels."

But a Department of Transport spokesman said last night the study was simply to assess potential modifications "to improve safety and reliability".

He said: "We have been consistent in stating that we have NO plans to bring any ship that is larger than the ships that already come here.

"The largest ship is the Voyager of the Seas, the so-called Voyager Class ship. The Voyager and her sister ship Explorer have been coming to Bermuda for at least the past three years. Most of the ships deployed in 2009 and 2010 are the Panamax Class ships, being less than approximately 950 ft in length and approximately 2,300 passengers.

"As a result, no channel modifications are necessary to accommodate the ships scheduled to come to Bermuda in 2009 and 2010."

He said: "The new pier can physically dock the Freedom Class ships, but there are no plans to bring that class of ship to Bermuda.

"The Department of Marine and Ports is looking to conduct a study to determine if modifications to the North and South Channels, Hamilton approaches and Town Cut should be done to improve safety and reliability, particularly in bad weather when some ships cannot safely navigate. They also are looking at providing night navigation.

"But these improvements DO NOT have to be done to dock the ships scheduled to come here.

"Also, Marine and Ports is looking at some routine dredging in Town Cut to enable some of the marginal, smaller ships to visit St. George's. This would not include any widening of Town Cut."

Dr. Ross Jones, principal investigator of the Marine Environmental Program at BIOS, has warned Planning that any future modification of channels would contravene the Coral Reefs Preserves Act 1966.

Dr. Jones, a consultant in the Phase Two planning application, said: "If the Dockyard berth is being designed to handle cruise ships that are presently too large for the North Channel, there has to be dredging or removal of reefs in the north lagoon.

"If these areas also fall within the North Shore Coral Reef Preserve which they presumably must if White Flatts is going to be widened and reefs around buoys 34 and 35 removed, the Act will also be contravened."

Page seven of the original Environmental Impact Statement stated: "The new plan envisions the addition of one new berth designed to handle the largest cruise ships including the Queen Mary II (L=1200 ft, W= 135 ft) and the Royal Caribbean Freedom Class ships (L= 1000 -1200 ft, W= 185 ft).

"Although the design of the new dock will allow for docking of the largest ships, as with the other two ports there are some constraints in the Narrows and North Channel. These channels do allow presently for the passage of some post-Panamax sized vessels, but may not include the largest cruise ships such as the QMII."

Dr. Jones told Planning: "The implication of this paragraph is that a berth is being designed at Dockyard to handle cruise ships that are presently too large for the Narrows and North Channel and so in order to allow them to use the berth the channels will have to be modified by dredging."

He also pointed out that Freedom Class (1,000-1,200 ft long) was already being superseded by the Genesis project (1,181 ft long), and questioned whether a 1,000 ft long pier was sufficient.

Director of Conservation Services Jack Ward, in a letter to Planning on February 6, suggested a further EIS would be needed "if, as has been suggested, the operation of this new terminal leads to a need for realignment, widening, or deepening of the existing shipping channels".

If this was the case, the reefs by the South Channel — a "very important fish habitat", could be affected.

The Bermuda National Trust has also raised questions as to whether there would be enlargement of the channels. In a press statement on January 9, the Trust said: "There remains an issue of critical national importance which remains unanswered; will our channels be dredged and our reefs degraded to allow passage of the ships into this port?

"The importance of our reefs, both locally and internationally, and their vulnerability means that any decision to alter them cannot be undertaken as an afterthought and requires extensive and comprehensive assessment."

In a letter to Planning on the retroactive Phase Two planning application, Dorcas Roberts, Director of Preservation, then said: "Regarding potential modifications to Bermuda's shipping channels, the letter sites (SIC) that this is not an immediate requirement but is under consideration. ...Any consideration to modify shipping channels should be a major consequence of this EIS."

In a statement last July, Government said: "Cunard approached us to see if we would consider having the QM2 come to Bermuda and we turned the request down because it would have required significant dredging of the North Channel to accommodate the ship."