FAJARDO, Puerto Rico--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following a ninety day period without full power for its nearly 1,000 wet-slips, 750 dry-stack spaces and 15 acres of land storage, MARINA PUERTO DEL REY has announced that by Christmas Day it will be fully electrified. The undertaking was the result of careful planning and implementation with RIMCO, PREPA and the Port of Jacksonville.
Although the generator had always been a key component of Nicholas Prouty’s vision of pairing super-high capacity generators with his $10 million investment in solar power, Hurricanes Irma and Maria accelerated his plans and the installation of the very powerful Cat generator is well underway.
“I am very proud to offer double redundancy. We are now living in a world of rapidly changing weather patterns and unfortunately these weather events will continue to happen. What can change however is how we plan for them in the future. Never again will an asset as important to nautical tourism and the economic recovery of Puerto Rico be sidelined again. Puerto Rico will prove its resiliency and as members of the private sector, we fully support that ideal,” expressed Nicholas Prouty, CEO of Putnam Bridge.
The generator will allow the Marina to operate as business as usual and will provide boaters with the peace of mind that they have always been accustomed to at Puerto Del Rey.
“We recognize that PREPA’s first priority is to restore power for essential services and homeowners, so it was with that in mind that we decided to move up the timetable with Caterpillar and PREPA,” said Prouty. Further adding, “Aside from the great pleasure our boaters take in being a member of our family oriented marina, Puerto Del Rey, let us not forget that it is also the primary source of employment for nearly 1,000 hard-working Puerto Ricans in Fajardo and Ceiba, so no power has also meant no work for our skilled journeymen, painters and electricians. Now they will be getting back to work and that fact more than others makes my decision so satisfying.”
“The new 1,500Kw Generator will make Puerto Del Rey the only marina offering its clients a stable power source. In the event of blackouts, Puerto Del Rey’s clients have peace of mind that their vessels are safe. This purchase is another example of our continued investment in Puerto Rico and my continued belief in the people of this Island,” continued Prouty.
Marina Puerto Del Rey was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2013 by Prouty’s firm, Putnam Bridge, and since then has undergone a massive investment in infrastructure. These investments have put Puerto Del Rey on the nautical map.
The new infrastructure investments over the past three years has made Puerto Del Rey the most prepared Marina for a hurricane. Millions were spent on the breakwater, on repairing and reinforcing our concrete docks and on building the most sophisticated hurricane tie-downs. Highly detailed Hurricane plans were created and our team was involved in every stage of planning. When it was clear Maria would make landfall, marina CEO Carolina Corral declared a code red status and every employee was activated and called in to prepare. As a result, less than 3% of the boats had major damages after the catastrophic Category 4 hurricane and that is something to be proud of.
For more about Marina Puerto Del Rey, contact 787-860-1000 or email, customerservice@puertodelrey.com, or visit www.puertodelrey.com.
