A direct sailing, not a relay
Bonaire takes ocean freight that leaves the United States and reaches Kralendijk without being lifted onto a second vessel on the way. King Ocean Services has run a weekly ABC service since 1982, sailing from Port Everglades in Florida on Saturday and calling at Oranjestad on Tuesday, Willemstad on Wednesday and Kralendijk on Thursday. That makes the Bonaire leg a five-day transit, and the carrier describes the service as direct and non-transshipped. Cut stone is heavy and brittle at the edges, so every handling cycle removed from the route is one fewer chance to chip an arris or split a crate. It also makes the schedule legible: one departure day, one arrival day, and a booking you can plan a laying week around.
What the Kralendijk piers publish
Published port information lets you sanity-check a booking before you commit to it. Confirm the detail with your forwarder for the sailing you are actually on, since berth allocation moves with cruise and cargo traffic.
- North Pier: 69 m (225 ft) long, 15 m (50 ft) wide, 10 m (33 ft) alongside depth, rated to 50,000 DWT.
- South Pier: 120 m (394 ft) long, 14 m (46 ft) wide, 12 m (40 ft) depth, rated to 115,000 GRT, fitted with a Ro-Ro ramp.
- A separate Ro-Ro and ferry jetty handles vessels to 100 m length overall, 5.5 m draft and 5,000 GRT.
- Port maximums are 115,000 DWT, 12.19 m draft and 320 m length overall, with three vessels alongside at once.
- The port works around the clock, with container handling equipment and warehousing on site.
Paper closes before the ship sails
Documentation cut-offs on the ABC service fall between Wednesday and Friday depending on cargo type, so the commercial invoice, packing list and origin paperwork have to be settled before the Saturday departure rather than chased after it. On arrival, an import declaration is filed with Douane Caribisch Nederland. Ask your forwarder which cut-off applies to your cargo type rather than assuming the latest one, and check that the description on the invoice matches the packing list line for line, because a mismatch is the sort of thing that surfaces at the worst possible moment. Work the sequence backward from the sailing date instead of forward from the purchase order, and paperwork stops being the reason a container sits while a laying crew stands idle.
Packing stone for a single lift
Stone travels best when it is packed for the handling it will actually get rather than for an ideal warehouse. We crate cut paving units for Bonaire sites so one forklift cycle moves a full format from the container floor to the stack.
- Ask for crate weights before booking, not after the container has been sealed.
- Keep one format to one crate so the crew is not sorting units on open ground.
- Check that crate footprints suit the forklift on site, not only the one at the port.
- Have edge protection written into the order for sawn arrises and finished faces.
The road leg you actually control
The last stretch is the part of the journey a buyer genuinely controls, and it repays a walk-through before delivery day rather than a discovery from the cab of a truck.
- Measure the gate opening and the space a rigid truck needs to turn and leave again.
- Confirm any posted weight limit on the approach with the trucking company in advance.
- Find firm, level ground for the forklift, because loose surfaces turn a short unload into a long one.
- Decide whether a truck-mounted crane is needed and book it with the delivery, not on the day.
- Agree who signs for damage, and photograph crates before they leave the pier.
Unloading beside a protected shoreline
Bonaire National Marine Park covers all the water around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, from the high-water mark down to 60 m, and STINAPA Bonaire manages it. A shoreline delivery is staged at the park boundary, not merely near it. Silt is the concern as much as spillage, so keep cutting and washdown water away from the shore, bund any wash bay, and stack crates where dust and slurry cannot run seaward. Agree the wash point with the contractor before the first crate is opened. In the coastal zone, works affecting natural vegetation can need permission from the bestuurscollege, so settle access routes with your permit team rather than improvising a track.
Storage between arrival and laying
Stone often lands before the base is ready. Treat that gap as part of the plan instead of an unwelcome surprise.
- Store crates off the ground on timber bearers and clear of standing water.
- Keep covers loose enough to vent, since sealed plastic in strong sun traps moisture against the stone.
- Site the stack where salt-laden wind will not scour open faces day after day.
- Open one crate for approval and leave the rest banded until the crew is ready.
Sequencing the order against the plan
The strongest order is written against the laying plan rather than the wish list: terrace formats first, driveway units in the same booking, edge restraint and any specials riding along instead of waiting a week for the next sailing. You can read our supply arrangements into Bonaire before you brief a forwarder, then match the crate schedule to the sequence your installer will actually work in. Book the stone and the road leg as one decision, never as two.