Port authorities and shipping agents have come under fire from the captain of the Celebrity Eclipse after the ship almost hit bottom when docking in St John’s.

The Antigua Port Authority has been advised to reduce its 253 employees by more than 50 per cent or risk further stagnation within the entity, even as local trade unions call for the rights of employees to be respected in the process.

Electricity has been restored to the Port Authority but the facility remained without water supply and phone service up to press time after they were cut off due to arrears.

The Port Authority has announced that a team of consultants from Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago will be advising it through massive restructuring to cut cost, boost revenue, reduce port charges, and improve technology, among a host of other considerations.

Despite extending its voluntary separation offer a further full week, Antigua Port Authority is still far short of the staff cut it had hoped for and negotiated with unions.