Grand Caribbean Marinas (GCM), owned and operated by Bacalia Group, has announced progress on the installation of a floating wave attenuator at Marina Puerto Chico in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, as the marina expands its capacity for transient boaters and strengthens its coastal infrastructure.
Working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA), the marina is focusing the installation on docks A1 and A2 to expand operating capacity for short-term stays, protect vessels and help limit the impact of waves and storms across the dock area.
Giuseppe Cicatelli, founder and principal of Bacalia Group, said: “A floating wave attenuator isn’t a cosmetic upgrade; it’s resilience infrastructure. Marinas function as working coastal infrastructure: they support nautical tourism, dockhands, mechanics, captains, divers and hundreds of small businesses built around the water. Structures that protect coastal infrastructure against storm exposure represent the kind of overlooked, long-duration assets that deserve more institutional attention within the blue economy.”
In June 2023, Marina Puerto Chico and the DRNA secured a $1.137 million USD grant through the USFWS Boating Infrastructure Grant programme. The marina also committed to add more than $960,000 to the project, which covers new slips, restrooms and showers, sanitary pumpout facilities, a gangway, a fuel dock and the floating wave attenuator now being installed.
Marina Puerto Chico operates as part of GCM’s six-marina network across Puerto Rico, which serves an estimated 3,000 vessels and about 50 concessionaires in nautical tourism, charters, sport fishing, diving, retail and marine repairs. The network also includes Isleta Marina, Sea Lovers Marina, Marina Sardinera, Renaissance Villa Marina and Bluecoast, and has focused its infrastructure investments on resilience since Hurricane María.
