Carnival Corp. and St. Maarten To Develop New Cruise Terminal

Carnival Corp. and the government of St. Maarten on Wednesday finalized an agreement to build a new two-berth cruise ship pier. The addition bumps up St. Maarten's capacity allowance to six berths (it already has a four-berth terminal). The terms of the agreement are such: Carnival Corp. put up $34.5 million in construction costs and has guaranteed a specific cumber of passengers on the island. In exchange, Carnival will receive preferential berthing rights at the new facility over a 20-year period. Construction of the new pier is scheduled to begin in December with a target completion date sometime in 2009.