According to a report in Cruise Passenger, the Northern Territory Government has just made what the adventure sector of the cruise industry consider is a disastrous decision that will cost them and the state in the region of $A20m!
The report says Northern Territory have only been lightly touched by the pandemic, with just one active case this week, but the Northern Territory government has issued orders that make cruise stops in Darwin a near impossibility.
It goes on to say that as Australia awaits news or whether or not there will be a Kimberley cruise season in Western Australia this year – at least six lines are hoping the answer is yes, the NT Chief Health officer issued an order on Friday saying no cruise with over 100 people on board – including the crew – could enter territorial waters and only two ships would be allowed at any one time.
Cruise operators have labelled the rules “unworkable” while local paper the NT News reported WA would pick up $20 million of badly needed business from Darwin, with an NT News headline today adding, “$20m blow to Darwin as ban allows WA to steal expedition ships”, saying 5,000 tourists would now give Darwin a miss.
The report says that cruise lines Ponant, Silversea, Scenic, APT, Aurora and Aussie-flagged Coral Expeditions are all down to sail Kimberley once the WA Government gives the go-ahead, with Coral, which has been sailing since last year and their ships Geographer and Adventurer carrying 99 passengers and 48 crew, APT’s adventure ship and Ponant had hoped to carry 99 passengers as well as crew, with Coral Discoverer, however, can carry 76 guests.
According to the NT News, operators say it is not possible to operate profitably with 99 including crew.
The Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie says in a report: “The owner and operator of a cruise vessel must ensure that the vessel does not enter Territory waters if: (a) there are more than 100 persons, including crew members, on board the vessel; or (b) there are 2 or more cruise vessels already in Territory waters.
“The owner and operator of a cruise vessel must ensure that the vessel: (a) does not enter Port Darwin unless at least 14 days have elapsed since the vessel last berthed in either of the following: (i) an Australian port that is within an area that, at the time the vessel enters Port Darwin, is a COVID-19 hotspot; port outside Australia; and (b) does not enter a port in the Territory, other than Port Darwin, unless the vessel: (a) has first berthed at Port Darwin; and (b) has not left Territory waters since berthing at Port Darwin; and (c) does not enter any port in the Territory while another cruise vessel is berthed at the port.”
In what is seen as an uninformed and uneducated in terms of the knowledge of cruising, Darwin’s loss will be Western Australais gain.
An edited report form Cruse Passnger by John Alwyn-Jones
