A recent article in Bottom Line magazine titled, 'Dateline Dockyard 2009' asked the question: what will be the impact of the twin Panamax cruise ship piers for Dockyard, Hamilton and St. George's?

While the government has applied for a Special Development Order (SDO) that will short-circuit planning procedures, the Bermuda public has not had adequate information about the socio-economic and environmental impacts Bermuda will inevitably experience from the construction of the piers, from alteration of the channels for the cruise ships and from the ensuing trade.

The Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Task Force (BEST) believes the new cruise ship policy will have far-reaching, and often negative consequences for Bermuda while providing questionable economic benefit.

The key premise of the Bermuda Government's new cruise ship policy is that bigger is not only better, it is essential. The Minister of Tourism and Transport, Premier Dr. Ewart Brown stated several years ago that smaller cruise ships were being 'phased out of production' and that Panamax, post Panamax and mega cruise ships were the way of the future. Now we find that in fact, cruise lines are continuing to manufacturer smaller ships. Would this be the case if no market existed for the smaller ships?

Further, the National Trust in its 2006 review of the new policy titled Cruise Ships and Sustainability in Bermuda states: "There are reasons to be sceptical of claims that the cruise industry will abandon Bermuda in the next several years unless substantial port, harbour and/or channel changes are immediately made to accommodate the largest of the large cruise ships."

The piers, currently being constructed at Dockyard by Correia Construction, are designed to provide berths for two Panamax or post-Panamax ships. Panamax ships range in length from 900 feet to 1,020 feet. They each carry between 3,000 and 4,000 passengers and crew. Two Panamax ships berthed at Dockyard could have a passenger capacity of 6,000 to 8,000 people.

The Government has also declared that Bermuda must prepare to receive the 'mega' sized cruise ships in order to be competitive with other destinations – that Bermuda would lose its status as a quality cruise ship destination if we cannot accommodate the mega ships. An example of a mega ship is the Queen Mary 2, which is 1,200 feet (nearly a quarter of a mile) with a passenger capacity of between 5,000 and 6,000 people.

To help understand the scale of the impact on Bermuda, we can look to the on-island passenger transportation system being planned. Dr. Brown intimated that a high speed ferry 'fleet' and water sport tour boats coupled with ground transportation via bus and taxi would transport passengers from the ships to venues around the island.

He has also noted future plans for the widening of Pender Road and the 'expansion' of a shuttle bus service to and from Dockyard to Horseshoe Bay. The consequences of this transportation strategy will be significant and, quite possibly, detrimental to the island.

Presently there is just one road leaving Dockyard and one main road through Somerset along which the buses carrying these tourists will have to travel to get to the beaches or other destinations. If just 1,500 of a possible 8,000 tourists (from two boats) wanted to travel from Dockyard at one time, forty buses would be required for that one trip. To understand and accommodate the demands that will be made on our transportation system, policymakers need information on passenger movements.

For example, how many passengers would actually disembark at one time? What percentage would leave to visit the port and the surrounding environs and what portion would want to travel from Dockyard to other destinations in Bermuda? And just how would that number be transported?

How many ferries, taxis, buses and water taxis will be required to service two Panamax ships? Will we have to enlarge our bus fleet? If so, what will happen with those buses when there are no ships berthed at Dockyard? Is the Government planning to divert buses from their regular schedules? If so, how would this impact the local population who depend on the buses for transportation?

Will locals and hotel guests elsewhere on the island find it difficult or impossible to find a taxi when these ships are in port? And what about the potential increase in traffic due to the increased number of buses and taxis entering and leaving Dockyard? How will this affect residents, schools and businesses in the West End?

The Premier's public statements have given no inkling of what valid, objective, statistical information was used in the drawing up this new cruise ship policy – or the old one, for that matter.

Where are the scientific studies on these subjects, which should have been carried out? What is the supporting rationale for our cruise ship policies, old or new? Have the necessary statistical studies actually been done?

To add to statistical evidence, Bermuda has a long experience with the cruise ship trade – retailers, taxi drivers, and restaurant personnel have expert knowledge regarding the general spending habits of cruise ship tourists and their preferred places of interest. Have these groups been consulted? Have their opinions and projections been included in the policy moves? If not, why not?

Similarly, when it comes to the environmental impact of the new cruise ship policy, it is imperative that we have detailed and accurate information before we commit ourselves irrevocably to the various adaptations to our ports, our channels, our coastline and inland waters.

There are scientific and anecdotal reports that detail the damage done to our marine environment from the dredging of Castle Harbour to build the air force base early in 1940. From these reports we know that this dredging and landfill operation drastically altered tidal flow patterns and permanently degraded our inshore reef community.

Our fragile, offshore reef community is a vital and vulnerable aspect of our total marine environment. It provides protection for Bermuda's coast, and nursery areas for our fish. From the experience with the dredging of Castle Harbour, we can assume that any dredging and the resulting damage to our reef communities off our north shore and those further inshore, will have far-reaching, detrimental and perhaps permanent consequences.

In 2007, an environmental impact statement (EIS) of the proposed pier was prepared for the Ministry of Tourism and Transport by Bermuda Water Consultants Limited (BWC). This EIS should have been subjected to an EIS Audit. BWC was also commissioned earlier this year to perform a "scoping" exercise – a step that sets the scope of, and should have preceded the EIS. In our analysis, the BWC documents raise more questions than they answer.

In the second segment tomorrow, we will comment on our analysis and explore the impact the new cruise policy will have on Bermuda's environment.