NASSAU, Bahamas — The Grand Bahama Shipyard has terminated 27 workers, including several long-serving managerial staff, due to a further slump in business caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Tribune reported on May 22 in an article written by Tribune Business Editor Neil Hartnell.
John Pinder, the director of labour, confirmed to Tribune Business that the move involved “separations” and not just temporary lay-offs. He revealed that the positions impacted included electricians, waste managers, plant operators, senior brokerage officers, project co-ordinators, purchasing managers, and inventory and materials personnel.
“They gave us ample notice,” Mr Pinder told this newspaper. “Everyone is using the COVID-19 as a reason for terminations. That’s what they [the Shipyard] say; that it was due to COVID-19, lack of business and no ships coming in.”
Dave Skantelberey, the Shipyard’s chief executive, declined to comment on the terminations when contacted by Tribune Business earlier this week. However, one source with knowledge of the situation, told this newspaper that the Shipyard had been “walking a tightrope” after COVID-19 created the perfect storm for its operations.
A key player in Freeport’s industrial sector, the Shipyard lost its largest dry docking facility when it collapsed in summer 2019. Its major shareholders, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, which each hold a 40 percent equity stake, had been planning to invest up to $100m in a replacement dock that was billed as the “largest” such floating facility to be built anywhere in the world over the past decade.
However, the cruise industry’s COVID-19 enforced shutdown, which has forced Carnival and Royal Caribbean to each raise billions of dollars in additional financing to help them ride out a period in which they are earning zero revenue, is likely to mean fresh investment will be placed on the backburner for a while.
That is likely to include the Shipyard’s new dry dock, which faces being added to a list of planned Bahamian investments – the Grand Lucayan and Freeport Harbour; Carnival’s Grand Port; and other private island destinations – by the cruise lines that will likely be subject to delays once the pandemic is over.
Tribune Business was also informed by contacts, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the Shipyard had been impacted by the border closures implemented by the Government on March 20 to prevent COVID-19’s spread as it relies heavily on a rotating cast of specialist expatriate employees to be brought in.
And, with health protocols requiring all incoming ships’ crew to be quarantined for at least 14 days, their interaction with Shipyard staff – a key element in vessel repair, overhaul and fitting out – has also been interrupted.
“The Shipyard is desperately keen to stay open and is trying as best it can to keep as many employees on as possible,” one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. “They had the accident with Dock number two last summer, and Carnival and Royal Caribbean were considering investing in a new one. COVID-19 has intervened.” See full story in The Tribune at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/may/22/crisis-takes-toll-jobs-grand-bahama-shipyard/?news
