Wider ships need wider channels
City considers expansion for new, giant vessels

A wider Panama Canal means larger cruise ships will be coming to call in the next decade or so. But they will not be able to navigate sections of Key West’s main shipping channel unless it is widened.

Port officials have requested the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conduct a feasibility study for widening the channel, which the federal agency maintains and operates, along with the Key West harbor.

The study would take years to complete if the corps decides to proceed, Port Director Raymond Archer said on Wednesday. “The city is not running around out there saying, ‘We need to widen this channel immediately,’ ” Archer said. “But with these larger vessels, it will be difficult for them to traverse the shipping channel.”

The Panama Canal historically has limited the size of ships, many of which are built to “Panamax” guidelines, adhering to the maximum measurements that will allow passage through the canal. The October 2006 decision to widen it has affected shipbuilders, the shipping industry and the cruise industry.

No longer limited to 110 feet in width, ships of the future will be 180 feet wide. The maximum capacity for container ships, for example, will increase from 5,000 to 12,000, according to the Panama Canal Authority’s Web site.

“You have to look at what’s happening in the industry and adapt accordingly,” Archer said. “Once the canal is widened, the only restrictions are in the infrastructure of the ports they are calling.”  Royal Caribbean cruise line already has one ship in its fleet, Freedom of the Seas, that cannot dock in Key West because of its sheer size. The ship is 725 feet wide and four times longer than most cruise ships.

Key West’s main ship channel is only 300 feet wide in certain parts, and expands to 800 feet wide at the section known as Cut A, said Bob Maguire, a Key West harbor pilot who boards cruise ships one mile offshore and accompanies them in and out of the harbor.

“That’s the first big ship that will affect Key West,” Archer said.

The issue of Panamax ships was a topic at a recent convention of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association in Cozumel, Mexico. Archer, Key West City Commissioner Mark Rossi and City Manager Jim Scholl attended the conference.

Meanwhile, Rossi continues to pursue the possibility of a floating bridge that would give cruise passengers access to Key West without requiring them to pass through Navy-owned land and be transported via shuttles and the Conch Tour Train. The shuttle is required because the Navy maintains ownership of the Outer Mole Pier and will not permit civilians to walk unescorted through military property.

“It floats across the harbor and when boats come in, it can swing open and closed,” Rossi has said of a similar bridge he saw during a cruise to Curacao. “In Key West, when it’s not in use, it could lie flat against the seawall.”  Rossi on Wednesday said he has spoken with Capt. J.R. Brown, commander of Naval Air Station Key West, and is setting up a joint meeting between the city of Key West and the Navy to further discuss the bridge options.

mbolen@keysnews.com