Port of Bridgetown

Port of Bridgetown
Gatehouse for the Deep Water Harbour from the Princess Alice Highway. (c. November 2000)
Location
Country	Barbados
Location	Bridgetown, St. Michael
Coordinates	13°06′22″N 59°37′55″W / 13.106°N 59.632°W / 13.106; -59.632
Details
Opened	1961
Operated by	Barbados Port, Inc.
Owned by	Government of Barbados
Type of harbor	Artificial (Coastal Breakwater)
Available berths	7
Wharfs	0
Piers	0
Employees	592
Website http://www.barbadosport.com/

The Port of Bridgetown (officially the Deep Water Harbour), (AMS Seaport Code: 27201,UN/LOCODE: BB BGI, Port Callsign: 8PB) is a seaport in Bridgetown on the southwest coast of Barbados. Situated at the North-Western end of Carlisle Bay, the harbour handles all of the country's international bulk ship-based trade and commerce. In addition to international-shipping the Deep Water Harbour is the port of entry for southern-Caribbean cruise ships. The port is one of three designated ports of entry in Barbados, along with the privately owned Port Saint Charles marina and the Sir Grantley Adams International Airport. The port's timezone is GMT –4, and it handles roughly 700,000 cruise passengers and 900,000 tonnes of containerised cargo per year.

Construction of the Deep Water Harbour began in 1956 by Costain Group of Britain, and cost EC$28,000,000 through completion in 1961.
The port was formed by creating a man-made isthmus across the shallow strait that existed off the coast of Fontabelle, St. Michael.
The isthmus formed 90 acres of new land stretching from the original west coast of Barbados, out to a small uninhabited, ex-quarantine island just offshore, named Pelican Island.
After the initial completion, the harbour later underwent a $22 million expansion seventeen years later.