Fort Bay, Saba

Abstract

Fort Bay harbour is a small harbour, located at the South of the island of Saba. This island is part of the Netherlands Antilles and it is situated in the Caribbean Sea where hurricanes may occur several times a year. Since its construction in 1972, Fort Bay harbour has experienced several hurricanes. Unfortunately some of these hurricanes were responsible for damage to the harbour structures (mostly to the breakwaters). The damages caused by the most recent hurricane Lenny are still present. To improve this situation, local authorities of Saba have commissioned CEC (subsidiary company of Witteveen+ Bos) to produce a plan focused on a full restoration of the original harbour facilities in combination with an economically feasible protection against hurricane conditions. A basic element in this restoration plan is to identify what has caused the apparent damage to the Fort Bay harbour structures. The first part of the present study is meant to contribute to such an identification. From an overview of the history of Fort Bay harbour, an inventory is made of possible reasons why the harbour structures have not been able to withstand the conditions they have been exposed to. This analysis has a qualitative character. One of the items that have come forward in this analysis is a worsening of atmospheric and hydraulic conditions in the area around Saba. Looking at the damage caused by hurricanes that have occurred in the past few decades, there is a possibility that such adverse conditions show an increase in both frequency and intensity. Verification of this potential increase is the subject of the second (and also the last) part of the present study.