by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:06 AM ET, Thu September 26, 2019
The Carnival Corporation and the government of The Bahamas announced Wednesday they had reached an agreement on the construction of two significant port developments.
As part of the deal highlighting two of the Carnival Corporation's brands, the company will develop a new cruise port destination primarily for Carnival Cruise Line on Grand Bahama.
In addition, Carnival will build an addition to existing facilities on the Bahamian island of Little San Salvador, which includes a new pier to accommodate Holland America Line's ships heading to the Half Moon Cay port.
In total, the Grand Bahama project will require an investment of over $100 million and the Little San Salvador construction will cost an estimated $80 million. The new deal was signed at the Prime Minister's Office in Grand Bahama at a ceremony Wednesday.
"We are very pleased to announce that Carnival Corporation's projects in the Bahamas are full speed ahead," Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said in a statement. "These developments and the significant investment in world-class tourism and hospitality operations are such a boon for our initiatives for national prosperity and economic stability."
Construction on the cruise projects is scheduled to begin by mid-2020 following the completion of environmental and other permitting processes. The Bahamian government is hoping the investments will help the island chain recover from the recent impact of Hurricane Dorian.
The two developments will allow Grand Bahama and Little San Salvador to welcome the cruise industry's larger ships, which includes Carnival's Mardi Gras, which is currently scheduled to debut in August 2020.
As for the Holland America Line, the brand has over 40 scheduled cruises planned to The Bahamas through the end of 2019. Two of the cruise line's newest ships, Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam, are both scheduled to visit Half Moon Cay this year.
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