Commerce Bight Port (1908-2013)
Stann Creek District possesses two ports, which are Commerce Bight Port in Dangriga town, the deepest in the country of Belize, and Big Creek Port in Mango Creek. The Commerce Bight Port and Belize City Port are owned and operated by the Port of Belize Ltd. Before the completion of Commerce Bight Pier (Railway Pier, Jetty Pier) in 1908, produce were shipped from the Stann Creek Town pier in front of Sacred Heart Church.
The importance of this area as a natural deep water port was recognized as far back as the 1890's with the establishment of the banana industry in the Stann Creek District. In 1906, the colonial government decided to build a railroad from Commerce Bight Pier to Middlesex. By 1908, regular steam ships from abroad were discharging imported cargo on the pier and then loading with bananas and mail for export to New Orleans. The pier had twenty-six feet of water depth to allow the United Fruit Company ships to load the bunches of bananas straight from the railway car.
The importance of this area as a natural deep water port was recognized as far back as the 1890's with the establishment of the banana industry in the Stann Creek District. In 1906, the colonial government decided to build a railroad from Commerce Bight Pier to Middlesex. By 1908, regular steam ships from abroad were discharging imported cargo on the pier and then loading with bananas and mail for export to New Orleans. The pier had twenty-six feet of water depth to allow the United Fruit Company ships to load the bunches of bananas straight from the railway car.
In the 1920's, the first grapefruits were shipped from Commerce Bight to England and Canada by the packing sheds in Sarawee and then Pomona. The Tidewater Lumber company also used this port from 1924 to 1929 to ship its mahogany to the United States. Later on, the Citrus Company of British Honduras revived the use of this port for the exportation of citrus and the Canada Hill Starch Processing Company exported cassava starch from 1937 to 1939.
This was the point of disembarkation for G.G.R Sharp upon visit to the Pomona Industrial School and his purchase of Middlesex Estate in 1931. Her Royal Highness, Princess Alice the aunt of Queen Elizabeth II (sister of King George VI) visited the area on board the Royal Yacht “Britannia” on 16th March, 1960.
The wharf was destroyed by Hurricane 4 on September 28, 1941 and a barge jetty was constructed until the pier was rebuilt. Jetty pier was rebuilt in 1980 while simultaneously works were being done on the Belize City Pier to turn it into the country’s deep water port. The citrus barons lobbied for Commerce Bight to have been made the real deep water port as it took only 500 feet of bridge to obtain depths of at least 30 feet, whereas the pier in Belize City is almost half a mile long for at best 20 feet draft. In fact, the citrus barons of Stann Creek did an independent feasibility study which showed that putting the deep water port at Commerce Bight and improving the Hummingbird highway, or better yet; constructing a new Coastal Highway, would have been cheaper than building the Belize City Port. Unfortunately, they did not have the political clout when compared to the Belize City merchants as politically the Stann Creek District have only two representatives.
Like the banana industry of the early 1900's, the citrus industry of the Stann Creek Valley and the oil industry of Spanish Lookout used the Commerce Bight Port to ship all their products overseas up until the government decided to lease it to Ports of Belize Ltd in 2002. In August 2013 the lease was revoked and the port was closed. After the Commerce Bight Port was closed in Dangriga the citrus and oil industries are now shipping their products through the Big Creek Port in Mango Creek village.
This was the point of disembarkation for G.G.R Sharp upon visit to the Pomona Industrial School and his purchase of Middlesex Estate in 1931. Her Royal Highness, Princess Alice the aunt of Queen Elizabeth II (sister of King George VI) visited the area on board the Royal Yacht “Britannia” on 16th March, 1960.
The wharf was destroyed by Hurricane 4 on September 28, 1941 and a barge jetty was constructed until the pier was rebuilt. Jetty pier was rebuilt in 1980 while simultaneously works were being done on the Belize City Pier to turn it into the country’s deep water port. The citrus barons lobbied for Commerce Bight to have been made the real deep water port as it took only 500 feet of bridge to obtain depths of at least 30 feet, whereas the pier in Belize City is almost half a mile long for at best 20 feet draft. In fact, the citrus barons of Stann Creek did an independent feasibility study which showed that putting the deep water port at Commerce Bight and improving the Hummingbird highway, or better yet; constructing a new Coastal Highway, would have been cheaper than building the Belize City Port. Unfortunately, they did not have the political clout when compared to the Belize City merchants as politically the Stann Creek District have only two representatives.
Like the banana industry of the early 1900's, the citrus industry of the Stann Creek Valley and the oil industry of Spanish Lookout used the Commerce Bight Port to ship all their products overseas up until the government decided to lease it to Ports of Belize Ltd in 2002. In August 2013 the lease was revoked and the port was closed. After the Commerce Bight Port was closed in Dangriga the citrus and oil industries are now shipping their products through the Big Creek Port in Mango Creek village.
Ferry to Stann Creek TownTo get to the North Stann Creek Valley before the completion of the Hummingbird Highway in 1954, one had to travel by boat to Stann Creek Town then up the Stann Creek Railway or Stann Creek Valley Road.
Famous boats at the time included the Sarawee, Heron H and the O.C.L. |