Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne has announced that the national cabinet has issued a formal directive to the Antigua and Barbuda Port Authority to accelerate coordinated planning with private partner Blue Ocean to launch long-planned infrastructure improvements at the Heritage Quay cruise pier. The update came during Browne’s weekly public radio address, in response to a listener question asking whether the upgrade work would be finished before the start of the upcoming cruise tourism season. Browne gave a clear confirmation that the project would meet this timeline.
Under the cabinet’s instruction, the Port Authority, which is headed by chief executive Darwin Telemaque, will be responsible for all coordination and liaison work with Blue Ocean to move the project past the planning phase and into active construction. While the prime minister confirmed that on-site work is expected to kick off in the very near future, he declined to share specific details including a formal construction start date, a binding final completion deadline, or the total estimated budget for the upgrade works.
Heritage Quay functions as one of the primary entry points for tens of thousands of cruise ship passengers arriving in St. John’s, the country’s capital and main tourism hub. Finishing the infrastructure upgrades ahead of the cruise season is considered a critical priority to maintain smooth, efficient operations at the pier and upgrade the overall visitor experience and public appearance of the facility, which is a key first impression for tourists visiting the island nation. Officials have confirmed that additional details about the full scope of the improvement project will be released to the public once the Port Authority and Blue Ocean finalize their operational and logistical arrangements for the work.