Bayonne Cruise Ship Terminal Redevelopment Approved

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Wednesday gave its support to a plan that would allow one of the world's largest cruise ships to sail out of Bayonne.

The agency's board of commissioners voted to approve a plan for Royal Caribbean to redevelop part of Bayonne's Cape Liberty Cruise Port. The redevelopment is aimed at accommodating Royal Caribbean's new Quantum of the Seas cruise ship scheduled to debut in the fall of 2014. The ship can carry 4,180 passengers.

Royal Caribbean would develop a new terminal and parking deck on the site, Port Authority commerce director Richard Larrabee said at the monthly board meeting. Larrabee said the agency, which acquired the Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal in 2010, would lose about $1 million a year in rent but would offset that with its share of passenger and parking revenue tied to the new ship.

Passenger volume is predicted to rise by 25 percent to 600,000 per year, according to Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni. Larrabee said he expected revenues in 2015 to surpass what the Port Authority would have realized without the redevelopment.

Royal Caribbean would fund the project in conjunction with the city of Bayonne, which would issue $70 million in bonds. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer and be completed by next fall.

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