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A large new cruise ship planned for Australia and New Zealand run was deferred in part due to poor port facilities.
Cruise New Zealand executive officer Kevin O'Sullivan said it was disappointing to learn that the new 4200-passenger ship planned for P&O Cruises Australia, the first planned specifically for the region, would not go ahead.
Lack of infrastructure progress was cited as one of the reasons for deferring the build.
"The decision by P&O is a wake up call that we must get our act together to improve cruise infrastructure if we are to continue to enjoy the benefits that cruise tourism brings," he said.
"Auckland must provide a berth for larger cruise ships urgently, and Lyttelton should proceed with bringing cruise ships back, to ensure Canterbury does not miss out on this large tourism market," Sullivan said.
The largest cruise ship to visit New Zealand, Royal Caribbean' Ovation of the Seas, arrives in Auckland on December 27, but it is too long to berth there.
Sullivan said it would have to anchor in the harbour with passengers ferried on tenders to the Viaduct area.
Installation of a mooring "dolphin" to allow larger new generation cruise ships to berth off the end of Queen's Wharf was supposed to be in place next summer.
But a consent application for the structure had been delayed, and it was now uncertain when the dolphin would be in place, he said.
The Ovation cannot not berth in Lyttelton, so it will bypass Canterbury and steam straight to Wellington.
"We have huge opportunities to continue to grow cruise tourism and we are missing out because of delays in providing infrastructure," said Sullivan.
Source: stuff.co.nz
If ports do not make berths big enough to take these mega cruise ships then they will go to other ports as passengers do not expect to be tendered ashore at a countries large city ports !
The UK Dorset port of Portland has just announced the building of a new 340 mtr berth for mega size cruise ships which is only about 30 miles from Southampton, but could attract many new cruise ship calls !
Several ports in the mediterrean area have also announced the building of longer cruise ship berths.
New Zealand and Australia need to build berths for these mega cruise ships if they still want to attract visitors to their countries as more and more of these mega size cruise ships are being built ! .
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