Barbados Port Inc. (BPI) this month brought home two top titles in regional port awards.
On Monday night, BPI was announced the winner of the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA) Ludlow Stewart Container Port of the Year Award, beating out all other competing ports.
The prestigious award was presented during the CSA’s gala banquet and awards ceremony, which closed the three-day Annual General Meeting, Conference and Exhibition held from October 22 to 24, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Chief Executive Officer of BPI, David Jean-Marie, dedicated the award to the employees of the Port of Bridgetown noting “we are especially proud and appreciative of the efforts they have extended over the past year”.
He added: “This accomplishment for us validates the progress we have made in enhancing our performance and efficiency, improving productivity and the management of resources.
“Amidst ongoing disruptions in the global supply chain and vessel arrival schedule, the Port of Bridgetown at the end of 2022 had been handling increasing container volumes. To counter this, we extended operating hours and opened on weekends wherever possible to ensure delivery of cargo and to minimise negative impacts to our customers.”
The CSA assessed port performance in 2022 over 2021 across 10 key categories, including productivity, environment, digitalisation, training and security. The Port of Bridgetown was outstanding in six of these categories, registering a six per cent increase in the average number of container moves per hour from berthing to unberthing and securing pride of place as the port achieving the best operational performance.
The CSA award follows BPI’s capture of the 2023 American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) and Inter American Committee on Ports (CIP) AAPA-CIP Port Industry Award of Excellence, announced on October 16, 2023, by the Organization of American States (OAS).
This award was given in recognition of BPI’s integration of technology and innovation processes into operations to boost efficiency, increase competitiveness and improve quality of services.
Twenty-two applicants from 11 countries in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean were assessed by the AAPA-CIP Committee, with the Port of Bridgetown coming out on top.
BPI Chairman, Peter Odle, commented: “This is yet another outstanding example of how the Port is being recognized for our efforts to improve the quality of our services and I congratulate and thank the entire Port team for their commitment and dedication.”