San Francisco scraps new cruise ship terminal

Citing the enormous cost of refitting the city's rotting piers, San Francisco has tabled its plan to build a $360 million state-of-the-art cruise ship terminal on piers 30-32. The new structure, which had been planned for more than six years, was to include a 100,000-square foot terminal as well as extensive retail and office space. It was to have been completed in 2011.

San Francisco hosts more than 80 ships each year and nearly 250,000 passengers. The city's existing dock space is inadequate for the new, larger cruise ships that are becoming the norm in the industry. Cruise terminal consultant, Philip Crannell, who has been hired by the city of San Francisco, told the San Francisco Examiner that it would need two 120,000-square foot terminals on piers 30-32 to handle the increasing size of cruise liners.