Anthony Caputo, director of Cape Liberty Cruise Land and Guest Operations, looks a lot like actor Sean Connery from the third Indiana Jones movie, although larger, with his face tanned by his work outside.
Once charged with terminal operations, passenger movement, and security for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises for all U.S. ports – as well as employment with other companies, including operations at the former Military Ocean Terminal of Bayonne when it was still operated by the federal government – Caputo has been getting Port Liberty in Bayonne ready for year-round operations.
“We’re expanding the terminal,” he said, touring the Bayonne facility a few days prior to the arrival of the first ship of the year.
Not everything is ready yet, but workers scurry through the vast halls of buildings that once served as shipping depots for military operations. Through these same buildings, supplies went to the first Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s. The base also supplied military operations going back to the outbreak of World War II.
Now, the area hosts cruise ships.
When Royal Caribbean Cruises signed its letter of agreement with the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority (BLRA) in December 2003 to construct and operate the new cruise port, cruise ships were to operate only in-season, starting in April and ending in late September.
Caputo did not have to worry about keeping the terminal warm or how to shield arriving and departing passengers from snow.
While the facility doesn’t have to have heat installed or the new canopies for the drop-off areas outside the terminal until later this year, Caputo said people are already hard at work expanding the terminal.
“We’re adding heat, installing electricity in some areas and building a new customs office,” he said.
This means the terminals will see an additional 25,000 feet of more-durable tenting, under which cars can pull to drop off passengers. Parking is being relocated from an easterly and more remote portion of the property to the western side, nearer to the terminal building.
Faster and safer
But the most fundamental changes are taking place inside the terminal, where operations are being done inside the terminal building. This includes streamlining the inflow of passengers and the handling of baggage.
The new configuration will now meet the requirements of the Department of Homeland Security, which will now provide a terminal facility that will allow agents from U.S. Customs to screen baggage and deal with potential security problems prior to people boarding the ship.
This, Caputo said, includes several levels of security, from the areas for initial baggage checks and specific areas for suspect baggage, to interview and detention areas.
The improvements to the baggage handling help people get cleared more quickly and still meet the security standards.
James Hayes, deputy chief for U.S. Customs for New York Harbor, said the facility is now state of the art, complete with computer terminals that can process passenger information.
Even days before the first ship is scheduled to arrive, workers are still installing wiring and other apparatuses in every section of the terminal.
Caputo said Royal Caribbean will pay the cost of construction through a bond taken out by the BLRA, thus getting lower interest rates on the loan than if it had been acquired in the private sector.
Nancy Kist, executive director of the BLRA, said a bond would be proposed for the terminal upgrades in the near future.
This is being done in conjunction with work on the nearby berths by the BLRA, which is expanding one of the existing berths and hoping to open additional berths in the future that will allow Cape Liberty to operate.
Although Port Liberty did accommodate two ships last year when the Queen Mary II needed a place to dock for a short period, Caputo noted that the port was not yet redesigned to handle these ships. The modifications, however, will not only give the port more berths but will handle the largest ships, making Port Liberty the premier port in New York Harbor.
Royal Caribbean is in the fourth year of a 35-year lease on the property and has already invested millions into the construction of the port, a significant portion of which is being paid off through a fee added onto ticket prices.
Since starting operations, Cape Liberty has become the third-busiest port on the East Coast, accommodating more than 320,000 passengers last year. This year, Caputo said, the numbers will drop slightly because Port Liberty will be hosting ships with smaller numbers of passengers. But he expects the year-round service – as well as additional ships in the future – to more than make up for the drop this year.
“In three or four years, we’ll probably have to tear down this terminal and build a brand new one,” Caputo said.