In an exclusive Cruise Passenger article Teresea Ooi says that the Federal Government’s Department of Home Affairs, in the ongoing saga of the Australian cruise sector, is at least to GTM, unbelievably and absurdly, insisting that all foreign-flagged cruise ships must employ Australian staff.
The report says that the government is insisting that cruise ship operators wanting to sail Australian waters must employ Australians for hospitality and other non-specialised jobs, with as has been previously widely reported there is a massive shortage of such staff right across the country.
Cruise Passenger says that the surprise ruling from Australian Border Force is believed to be behind the cancellation of APT’s first Caledonian Sky cruise, which was scheduled to sail on June 2, with Caledonian Sky’s just 99 passengers and crew, would have been the first foreign-flagged vessel to sail the tourist-starved Kimberley coast, with PONANT having also been forced to cancel its June voyages.
APT told Cruise Passenger and other media in a statement, “Following advice from the Australian government, we are employing more than 30 Australian crew members for our 2021 Kimberley season”, adding, “However, due to a number of challenges, including a tourism and hospitality staff shortage at present, the recruitment process has been slower than anticipated”, and “This has meant the training required for all crew to meet criteria set by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority has also been delayed.”
Cruise Passenger says that their investigation is showing that the Australian Border Force ruling goes far wider than APT and looks likely to cover all foreign-flagged ships, which as a result of the staff shortage, would have a devastating impact not only on the cruise sector but also tourism throughout Australia and the struggling suppliers to the cruise industry, with such a ruling further exemplifying the staggering disconnect between Federal Government departments and the abject lack of knowledge of the cruise sector. For example, did Home Affairs ask the Department of Employment for their views? I somehow doubt it!
Cruise Passenger says that a Home Affairs spokesperson told them that the rules are spelled out on the department’s website under cruise ships and maritime, which states, “Crew of large passenger vessels (up to 99 berths, inclusive) are not exempt from Australia’s travel restrictions and will need to submit a travel exemption request before traveling to Australia, which can be done through the Travel Exemption Portal.”
Home Affairs added, “We will only consider exemptions for crew required to safely operate the vessel”, adding, “Entry of the vessel should also provide economic benefit to Australia”, and “Other roles, such as service or hospitality roles, should be filled by workers in Australia.”
Cruise Passenger says that Australia has the largest per capita number of cruise holiday fans in the world, and tens of thousands are keenly awaiting the chance to cruise again, but so far, despite months of patient planning and talks, no agreement has been reached.
In addition, Australian-owned line Scenic was forced to cancel the arrival of the world’s first luxury discovery yacht, Scenic Eclipse, after months of painstaking negotiations eventually came to nothing, and luxury small ship lines PONANT and Silversea are still waiting for the go-ahead months after announcing cruises, which have sold well, meaning hundreds of passengers now face losing their dream holidays.
Cruise Passenger echoes what Global Travel Media has been saying for many months that the problem is the failure of federal and state governments to accept a single set of rules by which cruising can resume safely, even though cruise lines have put numerous health protocols, quarantine timelines and passenger number restrictions to health departments and government officials, with cruise executives becoming increasingly frustrated, with one telling Cruise Passenger: “Just when you get over one hurdle, they put up another – whether it is a state, federal or health. It is never-ending…”
The report goes on to say that news this week that Australia’s borders are unlikely to be opened before July, 2022, has added to the growing anger, with cruise ship operators believing safe cruising, as shown in Singapore and shortly in Europe and America, is not just possible but has now been proven.
In addition, Global Travel Media has regularly expressed its concerns that the Federal and State Governments have continually demonstrated a distinct lack of knowledge and understanding of cruising right across Government, as evidenced in my recent interview with Dr. Ian Norton, Australia based MD of Respond Global, who has several years’ experience with the World Health Organisation managing diseases like Ebola and more recently resolving issues with Ruby Princess, which was created by the ineptitude of the NSW Government. He also worked on recovery issues with the Grand Princess – did you watch the interview? If not CLICK HERE to watch! Dr Norton said that says Australia cruising can start RIGHT NOW and he is an acknowledged expert and much more knowledgeable than any of us and/or any I imagine anyone in government in this specific medical area and of cruising, and I repeat he made it very clear that cruising in the bubble could start right now.
Cruise Passenger says thousands of jobs and millions of dollars are being lost because Australia is unable to come to a single, united set of regulations – despite the increasing number of models overseas, with Sarina Bratton, Chairman of PONANT Asia Pacific, said this week the travel industry is desperate for products to sell and expeditions to Australian destinations would provide a lifeline, adding, “International tourism is gone for the foreseeable future, domestic travel is mainly booked on-line, and those travel agents who are left are using Government subsidies to try to remain open”, and “This would be a significant first step to moving beyond what the worst of COVID has done to the Australian travel industry”.
She added, “There are many thousands of Aussies already booked, and much more ready to book now – that would make a huge difference to struggling businesses,” and “If the Federal Government can issue their framework early enough, we can still salvage the Kimberley season”, adding, “We continue to be hopeful.”
Cruise Passenger says that the Australian Border Force’s ruling on local Australian crew is similar to what happened to PONANT when New Zealand border officials refused entry to Le Laperouse, granting only 29 officers and engineers visas as essential workers, but refusing visas for 61 what they described as non-essential crew because they were not from New Zealand.
PONANT was forced to cancel its New Zealand cruises which affected 700 New Zealand booked passengers, with PONANT losing millions of dollars and New Zealand an estimated NZ$6m indirect economic loss to food and beverage suppliers and ground operators, also adversely affecting travel agents and the 16 New Zealanders Kiwis who had been contracted to work onboard for two months.
Ms. Bratton told Cruise Passenger, “With the lack of Australian hospitality workers available throughout Australia, with restaurants not being able to open seven days a week and forced to operate with lower service standards, with international students not being allowed to work more hours in hospitality, clearly, our country cannot provide the skilled and trained workforce required to man a full five-star hotel function onboard a ship” and ”Our Kimberley operations will engage around 46 Australians for various functions onboard, primarily naturalists.”
Silversea is also optimistic its Kimberley season will go ahead with Adam Radwanski, managing director, Silversea Asia Pacific telling Cruise Passenger, “Silversea is hopeful that the 2021 Kimberley cruise season will still happen, albeit with a shorter season than usual, as we await the delivery of the cruise resumption framework from the Federal Government”, adding, “Silversea is committed to commencing our Kimberley voyages as we are eagerly looking forward to a return to cruising in Australia”, and “All parties are working towards a shared goal, so we are hopeful that the remainder of the Kimberley season will resume as scheduled.”
Meanwhile, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) appears to have toughened its stance, by launching its Ready Set Sail initiative which they say targets travel agents, industry stakeholders and other members of Australia’s extensive cruise community, urging them to raise their voice and place new pressure on state and federal parliamentarians through www.ReadySetSail.com.au – if you have no logged in and made your voice heard please do so NOW!
Here at Global Travel Media though, we believe that CLIA the travel industry, and the cruise sector’s approach needs to be a lot tougher, with discussions and negotiations that have been going on for over a year with no success whatsoever! While that must be clearly very frustrating and even disappointing for CLIA and those involved in the discussions and negotiations, it is as clear as day that the current approach is simply not working and it is time to take the gloves off and be much stronger.
Based on the Federal Government insisting on only Australian “non-essential” crew, it could well be assumed that there is no chance whatsoever of any broader domestic cruising restarting with larger vessels owned by companies like P&O Australia, Carnival Cruises, Royal Caribbean, and others, as they carry several hundred of what it appears the Federal Government would deem to be “non-essential” staff, on each ship, with not surprisingly, not a cat’s chance of finding them in Australia, giving even greater credence to the ridiculousness of the Federal Government’s recent decision.
An edited report from Cruise Passenger and John Alwyn-Jones, Cruise Editor.
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