Kingston Wharves Ltd. (KWL) will today be in the limelight of the Caribbean Shipping Executives Conference being held in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

Grantley Stephenson, chairman and CEO of KWL, will make a presentation on the operations and development plans for 'The Caribbean's Best Multi-Purpose Terminal' to participants in the conference. The conference is staged annually by the Caribbean Shipping Association (CSA).

KWL was recognised as 'The Caribbean's Best Multi-Purpose Terminal' at last year's annual general meeting of the CSA in Panama. Currently, KWL is expanding and modernising its facilities to strengthen the terminal's position as the premier multi-purpose port of the Caribbean by broadening its product mix and increasing its market share while remaining in its core business of being a public wharf company.

"This transformation is necessary," states Stephenson, "for Kingston Wharves is to exploit both short- and long-term opportunities which are occurring in the Latin America and Caribbean markets."

One of the prospects targeted by Kingston Wharves Ltd. is that of the containerised traffic which is projected to increase by 78-102 per cent by 2010. This expansion will enable Kingston Wharves to harness new business opportunities by offering to shipping lines serving the Caribbean trade a state-of-the-art facility. These improvements will also facilitate new business relationships and synergies with other wharf facilities, inclusive of those now in operation with the Kingston Container Terminal, which is adjacent to Kingston Wharves Ltd.

The Caribbean Shipping Association's sixth annual Caribbean Shipping Executives Conference is being held over three days, May 14, 15 and 16, and is hosted by the Puerto Rico Shipping Association in collaboration with the municipality of Mayaguez.

The improvements to be undertaken by Kingston Wharves include:

Construction of new berths of 137 metres.

Deepening of channel to 15.25 metres.

Strengthening of superstructure to safely enable the usage of 65-tonne capacity.

Conversion of berths 8-9 from a motor facility to a containerised facility.

Conversion of berths 6-7 to a modern multi-purpose facility.

Streamlining and upgrading of berths 1-5.

Acquisition of land adjacent to or in proximity to port to enable the storage of motor units as well as other types of cargo which do not require port location.

Acquisition of backup equipment to ensure better service quality to shipping lines, importers and exporters.