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March 2015
| Business World
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stantial fleet including three tugs, six High
Speed Catamaran Ferries, three convention-
al mono hull ferries , a 740 passenger Ship
Tender and a Buoy Tender. They also have
two pilot boats, which double as search and
rescue boats, and a number of smaller ves-
sels which they use for inspections and other
purposes.
According to CDR Russell, those ships –
and the other equipment that the Depart-
ment utilises – are sourced from long-term
suppliers, some dating back as far as 25 years.
Russell says they have forged such strong
relationships because they relationships be-
cause they communicate clearly and pay on
time.
PLUS MORE
Moving forward, CDR Russell says the De-
partment of Marine and Ports Services will
continue to seek out improvements and
overcome any challenges that may arise.
“We’ll have to change old equipment, work
on new plans and polishes and do everything
we can to do more within our means,” he
says. “The country depends very heavily on
tourism, so our service must go on. We can’t
afford for our service to fail.”
Bermuda has a population of roughly 65,000
people. Everydayduring the summermonths,
with the exception of Saturdays, they host as
many as 10,000 visitors on the island.
“Moving those people around is a huge chal-
lenge for a transportation system to meet,”
Russell says. “The coordination between our
department and the other transportation de-
partments on the island – the buses and the
taxis, et cetera – has to be superb, and it is.”
“People get upset when they pay money for
a cruise, only to get off the ship and have
to stand around, because they can’t get to a
destination they planned to,” he continues.
“We can’t allow that to happen. We have to
make sure people can walk off a cruise ship,
get onto a ferry and half an hour later be in
downtown Hamilton, or an hour later be in
St. George’s.”
“The Department functions as it’s supposed
to function, plus more, and we’re very proud
of that,” Russell concludes.