The numbers seem daunting—1,000-foot cruise ships, hundreds of new jobs in the private sector and an estimated multi-million dollar impact on the local economy. The idea that is literally being floated could make Solomons—the small town located at the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River—a destination for passenger ships.
While the idea may seem far-fetched, Solomons resident Charlie Donnelly, who is well-versed in the Calvert town’s colorful history, indicated the arrangement would be nothing new. Donnelly noted the waterways adjacent to Solomons have been traversed by battleships, steamboats, oil tankers and other sizable vessels in the past. The plan to build a cruise ship terminal would return Solomons to its bygone days.
“It’s hard for people to understand how this is going to work,” Donnelly admitted.
The project will need to sail through some red tape before it can become a reality. Donnelly and his group, Global Maritime Solution (GMS), are hoping to lease 50 acres of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station’s Recreation Annex in Solomons for the operations facility.
According to a PowerPoint presentation made available by GMS, the aim would be to forge a “one of a kind public/private partnership with the Navy Annex Center.”
Donnelly and another GMS group member, Chris Moore, stated the projection of additional jobs is based on the performance of similar operations in the Port of Baltimore.
“There are about 40 million residents within a six-hour drive of Southern Maryland,” Moore pointed out. Based on the popularity of cruise ships in the Mid-Atlantic region GMS’ projection is that with 90 port visits by cruise ships in the first year of operation, 180,000 people would visit Southern Maryland to embark on a cruise. The possibility of a large percentage of these passengers spending a night in the region could add huge numbers of customers at local restaurants, hotels and retail stores.
“We’re not going to create gridlock,” said Moore, who indicated some of the region’s amenities, such as the airport in St. Mary’s County, could expand their services with the addition of the nearby cruise ships.
The group is vowing to create a business that will be in compliance with today’s enhanced cruise security requirements and have pledged not to seek local, state or federal funding for the project.
Because of the use of the Navy property, Donnelly acknowledged support on all government levels, as well as among the public, is vital to getting the plan moving.
In their Power
