A hand-drawn nautical chart pulled from a second-hand desk has helped set in motion a XCD $1.05 billion (about €389 million) freight-port project on Saint Vincent’s south coast, the largest private investment yet announced on the island. Developers say a modern survey prompted by the find confirmed a 14.2-metre (47-foot) approach channel at Lowmans Bay, potentially allowing large container ships to call without extensive dredging.
Delfina Langosh, a retired ferry ticket clerk, found the chart in April while repairing a drawer in a desk she had bought at an estate sale in Kingstown. Its pencilled soundings and a note about a sheltered channel caught her attention. “I thought it might be useful to somebody who works on the water, so I took it to the harbour office,” she said.
A chart from a desk
The chart, dated 1968, showed a narrow route through coastal waters that later commercial maps marked as too shallow for large freight vessels. Port officials passed a copy to a maritime survey team, which spent three weeks mapping the seabed with sonar and taking core samples. Its measurements found a clear approach channel, though engineers say further checks are needed before construction begins.
Kestrel Quay Holdings, the project’s developer, said the proposed terminal would handle up to 92,000 standard container units a year on a 36-hectare (89-acre) site. The company expects to start construction in 2028 and open in 2031, subject to permits. Its plan includes a cargo berth, cold-storage buildings and a small logistics park for regional food and building-material shipments.
The company estimates 860 construction jobs and 210 permanent posts, including warehouse, maintenance and customs-support work. The island currently relies on smaller vessels and cargo connections through other Caribbean ports. Kestrel Quay says a direct service could cut some shipping journeys by two days, although freight operators will decide whether the volumes justify regular calls.
Permits and local costs
Carmine Guerra, a director at the national investment office, called the proposal the largest single private project the country had received. He said the government had not guaranteed the company’s financing or promised public funds for construction. The developers say they will pay for the terminal and associated road access, while the state will review any request for tax concessions separately.
The plan still faces environmental and planning reviews, including an assessment of dredging, coastal drainage and effects on nearby fishing grounds. Maritime economist Nikola Červená said the chart could identify a cheaper route, but it could not establish whether the terminal would attract enough business. “A deep channel is an advantage, not a customer,” she said.
The first public consultations are scheduled for January, with the company expected to submit a full environmental assessment by June. Langosh has been invited to a meeting with the survey team to discuss where the chart came from. She said she had not asked for a payment, but hoped the find would bring steady work to the island rather than a short construction boom.
If regulators approve the project, the port would give Saint Vincent a new role in regional cargo traffic and place it in direct competition with larger terminals elsewhere in the eastern Caribbean. The developers’ next test is less unusual than the chart’s discovery: proving that shipping lines will commit vessels before the first berth is built.
