Transport in the Bahamas

Highways

Approximately 2,718 kilometres (1,689 mi) of road in the Bahamas is classified as highway. Of these, approximately 1,560 kilometres (970 mi) are paved. As a former British colony, drivers drive on the left.

Ports and harbours

Cruise ships at Nassau's Prince George Wharf.

Marinas and harbours are plentiful on The Bahamas islands, making aquatic travel an easy way to navigate between the islands group. Boat travel can be the only way to reach some of the smaller islands. Travelers entering the island will need to clear customs first, but boatsmen can enter any of the following ports of entry and harbours in The Bahamas:


Facilities catering to large passenger cruise ships are located on Grand Bahama Island and New Providence. The Lucayan Harbour Cruise Facility in Freeport[1] and Nassau harbour's Prince George Wharf are built specifically to handle multiple modern cruise ships at one time. Additionally, several major cruise line corporations have each purchased an uninhabited island which they now operate as private island destinations available exclusively to their respective ships. These include Great Stirrup Cay, owned by Norwegian Cruise Line, Little Stirrup Cay otherwise known as Royal Caribbean International's "Coco Cay", Carnival Corporation's Little San Salvador Island or "Half Moon Cay", and Castaway Cay, of Disney Cruise Line. Of these, only Castaway Cay offers ships an actual pier for docking. The others use tender boats to service ships anchored off shore.

Merchant marine

Statistics for the shipping industry of the Bahamas
Total: 1,223 ships (1,000 gross register tons (GRT) or over)
Totalling: 37,743,270 GRT/50,918,747 metric tons deadweight (DWT)
Cargo ships
Bulk ships 210
Barge carrier 1
Cargo ship 226
Container ships 65
Roll-on / roll-off ships 16
Tankers
Liquefied gas tanker ships 77
Chemical tanker ships 88
Specialized tanker ships 3
Petroleum tanker ships 209
Passenger ships
General passenger ships 109
Combined passenger/cargo 35
Source: This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.

The Bahamas are one of the world's top three flag of convenience shipping registries.

Airports

The main airports on the islands are Lynden Pindling International Airport on New Providence, Grand Bahama International Airport on Grand Bahama Island, and Marsh Harbour International Airport on Abaco Island. Out of 62 airports in all, 23 have paved runways, of which there are two that are over 3,047 meters long.

Airports with paved runways:

total: 23
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 11
914 to 1,523 m: 6 (2008)

Airports with unpaved runways:

total: 39
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 12
under 914 m: 22 (2008)

Airlines

Bahamasair is the national flag carrier airline of the Bahamas.[2]

Heliports

A heliport is located on Paradise Island, as well as other smaller islands, such as the various cruise line private islands.

References

  1. ↑ "Grand Bahama - Vision Meets Opportunity", page 10. Grand Bahama Port Authority. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  2. ↑ "About Bahamasair". Bahamasair. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
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