Transport in the Bahamas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Highways
2 Ports and harbors
3 Merchant marine
4 Airports
5 National airline
6 Heliports

[edit] Highways

Highways are the easiest way for most people to travel on land in The Bahamas since more than half of the roads are classified as highways. There are approximately 2,693 kilometers or 1,670 miles of highway total on all of islands combined in The Bahamas. Out of these roads about, 1,546 kilometers, or 959 miles of them are paved highways, while the rest consist of dirt roads and other unpaved roads which may make for difficult travel. For the most part, driving in The Bahamas is similar to driving in the United States, but there are some differences such as vehicles are driven on the left as opposed to the right-hand side of the road in The Bahamas.

[edit] Ports and harbors

Marinas and harbors 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 harbors in The Bahamas:

The Abacos: Green Turtle Cay, Marsh Harbour, Spanish Cay, Treasure Cay, or Walker’s Cay
The Berrys: Chub and Great Harbors Bay
North Bimini: Alice Town
Cat Cay: Hawksnest Marina
Nassau/New Providence Islands: Any marina
Grand Bahama Island: Freeport Harbour, Lucayan Marina Village and Port Lucaya, or Old Bahama Bay at West End
Eluthera: Governor’s Harbour, Harbour Island, Rock Sound, or Spanish Wells
The Exumas: George Town, Exuma
Long Island: Stella Maris Airport
San Salvador: Cockburn Town
Mayaguana: Abraham’s Bay
Inagua: Matthew Town

[edit] Merchant marine

Statistics for the Shipping Industry of The Bahamas
Total: 1,177 ships (1,000 GRT or over)
Totalling: 37,743,270 GRT/50,918,747 DWT
Cargo ships
Bulk ships	253
Barge carrier	1
Cargo ship	250
Livestock carrier	2
Container ships	79
Roll-on/Roll-off ships	20
Refrigerated cargo ships	114
Tanker ships
Liquefied gas tanker ships	35
Chemical tanker ships	64
Specialized tanker ships	5
Petroleum tanker ships	175
Passenger ships
General passenger ships	115
Combined passenger/cargo	34
Note: Of these, 1,093 are foreign-owned: Angola 5, Australia 2, Belgium 13, Canada 18, China 3, Cuba 1, Cyprus 13, Denmark 59, Estonia 1, Finland 8, France 37, Germany 22, Greece 232, Hong Kong 8, Iceland 1, India 1, Indonesia 4, Ireland 2, Israel 1, Italy 5, Japan 51, Jordan 2, Kenya 1, Latvia 1, Malaysia 12, Monaco 17, Montenegro 2, Netherlands 24, Nigeria 2, Norway 259, Philippines 1, Poland 15, Reunion 1, Russia 6, Saudi Arabia 12, Singapore 12, Slovenia 1, Spain 12, Sweden 6, Switzerland 2, Thailand 1, Turkey 8, United Arab Emirates 16, United Kingdom 69, Uruguay 2, United States 121, Venezuela 1. 4 ships owned by Bahama are registered in other countries: Barbados 1, Liberia 1, Panama 2. 2006 estimates.
Source: This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.

[edit] Airports

With 62 airlines servicing the region, it is pretty easy to reach The Bahamas. The main airports on the islands are Nassau International Airport and Grand Bahama International Airport. Out of the 62 airports, 33 have paved runways of which, there are two that are over 3,047 meters long.
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 15
914 to 1,523 m: 12
under 914 m: 2 (1999 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 29
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 21 (1999 est.)