Overcrowding means cruise ships are bound for Botany Bay
CRUISE ships could be sent to grotty Port Botany because of Sydney Harbour’s overcrowding crisis, which is allowing the big docks in Melbourne to snatch millions in business from NSW.
NSW
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CRUISE ships could be sent to grotty Port Botany because of Sydney Harbour’s overcrowding crisis, which is allowing the big docks in Melbourne to snatch millions in business from NSW.
The lack of space for cruise ships on the Harbour has forced the state government to consider new facilities at Port Botany’s cargo berths — a stone’s throw from Sydney’s dirtiest beach and the roar of the airport’s main runway.
And the area’s shipping containers, paper mill and chemical storage will be a far cry from the glitzy sights that greet passengers at Circular Quay.
Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas stopped at Port Kembla — known for its steelworks — as cruise operators started casting around for alternatives to Sydney Harbour last year.
“The government is looking at ways to boost capacity for cruise ships in Sydney Harbour, including exploring the availability of cargo berths at Port Botany,” a spokesman for Roads, Maritime and Freight Minister Melinda Pavey said.
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A whopping 336 cruise ships are due to visit Sydney by the end of autumn and the cruise industry is worth $2.9 billion a year to NSW.
But the lack of space on the Harbour is now so chronic that rainy and windswept Melbourne has snatched hosting rights for the massive Carnival Legend and Queen Elizabeth ships in 2018 and 2019 — costing Sydney at least $11 million in lost business.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle was crowing about the win last night. “Cruise ships are good for our economy not just because of the money tourists spend, but also in the reprovisioning of the ship in port,” Mr Doyle said.
In another fiasco, thousands of passengers disembarked from Queen Elizabeth in the middle of Sydney Harbour last week, in foul weather, because there was no dock available.
Carnival Australia, owner of Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth and Carnival Legend, said the decision to take its ships to Melbourne was a direct result of “congestion” on Sydney Harbour.
“Cunard’s preference was to sail Queen Elizabeth exclusively from Sydney but there were simply no more parking spots available,” Carnival executive chairman Ann Sherry said.
“In addition to having its own operational constraints, Port Botany is no substitute for the Sydney Harbour experience as an integral element of cruising to or from Sydney.”
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Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, the largest cruise ship to visit Australia, would have made more trips to Sydney this year if there was more space.
The overseas passenger terminal at Circular Quay is Sydney’s only dock for modern cruise ships, most of which can’t get under the bridge to the terminal at White Bay.
Defence allows three cruise ships a year at Garden Island but is reluctant to open up the Navy facility to more visits.
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