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March 2015
| Business World
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their new Quantum Class cruise ships into
Bermuda, and the Department is currently
finalising plans that will make those arrivals
efficient and easy.
Another common challenge for the Depart-
ment is “trying to make a good thing even
better,” which they are doing in multiple
ways across their divisions.
For example, one of the Department of Ma-
rine and Ports Services’ main focuses is Sea-
port Security. Russell says the Department
already sets a very high standard in that
arena, but they are still looking for improve-
ments where possible, such as by looking
into infrared cameras and improvements to
the radar and marine VHF systems.
The Department also sets a high standard
when it comes to environmental sustain-
ability, Russell adds, but they are looking at
new initiatives there as well. He explains that
their bigger vessels can burn over 166,000 li-
tres of fuel over a 20 weekend period in the
winter. This winter, they are changing the
vessels they use on weekends to reduce that
number to 11,200 litres of fuel.
“Those are the kinds of initiatives we’re look-
ing to put in place,” Russell says. “We’re do-
ing that for both environmental reasons and
monetary reasons. With budget constraints,
we always have to look at ways of making the
services more efficient.”
The Department of Marine and Ports Ser-
vices is also responsible for the annual li-
censing of all private boats, commercial tour
boats and moorings in Bermuda. Additional
duties that fall under this umbrella include
small boat wreck removals, inspections of
foreshore encroachments, management of
small boat channels and processing applica-