Coronavirus: Cruise line Cunard pulls pin on voyages around Australia
‘More dominoes expected to fall’ after major cruise operator cancels Australian voyages.
Major cruise line Cunard has cancelled its campaign of summer voyages around Australia as ongoing international border closures deal another blow to the struggling tourism industry.
The 180-year-old British operator, part of the Carnival Corp stable, announced on Wednesday night it was pulling the pin on all voyages in Australia and New Zealand for 2021-22. Ongoing Covid complexities also mean it has cancelled two world voyages scheduled to call here next year.
There are fears Cunard is merely one in a series of cruise-industry dominoes set to fall as uncertainty continues about when foreign-flagged ships will be allowed into Australian waters.
Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth had been due to arrive in Australia in October for a four-month deployment estimated to be worth $34m to the Australian and New Zealand economies.
Hundreds of Australians are booked on Cunard voyages here and across the Tasman.
Cunard president Simon Palethorpe said the decision to cancel Queen Elizabeth’s “much anticipated Australian season” had been made reluctantly. “The decision to cancel any voyage is not taken lightly as we are fully aware of the disappointment this will cause guests and the impact on the local economy,” he said.
Cruise Lines International Association Australasia managing director Joel Katz said the lack of a clear pathway for a phased resumption of cruising was putting 18,000 Australian jobs at risk and making it impossible for cruise companies to plan.
Ships need 60 to 90 days to mobilise, provision, source vaccinated crew, quarantine and travel to an embarkation port. “Every day that passes makes the whole return more challenging for the upcoming season,” Mr Katz said.
The suspension of international cruising in Australia was extended on June 10 until September 17.
Carnival Australia president Sture Myrmell said he was disappointed the extension “was not accompanied by a framework to facilitate a resumption plan”.
Cunard will resume sailing in Britain in July, and several lines are back in business in other jurisdictions. Almost 150,000 vaccinated passengers have sailed out of Singapore on Royal Caribbean and Dream Cruises ships on so-called “cruises to nowhere”.
“There’s really no reason that we couldn’t do something similar in Australia,” Mr Katz said.
Fremantle Markets’ chief Natasha Atkinson said they had been looking forward to resumption of cruising as a major source of revenue for traders.
With the markets within walking distance of the wharf, Ms Atkinson said cruise ship passengers had been “fantastic” for them prior to the onset of the pandemic.
“We had been seeing steady growth in the number of ships stopping over at Fremantle. It was brilliant,” she said. “Now we’re happy to see any tourists at all.”
Brett Dudley, founder of eCruising, said the company had hundreds of customers booked on Cunard cruises this summer and was set to lose about $2m in revenue. He was deeply worried other lines would follow suit with cancellations. “If that happens, we’re staring down the barrel of losing $7m to $8m ... we’re heavily reliant on this season going ahead because we’ve had no income since March last year,” he said.
Sydney resident Ronelle Adams, a veteran of more than 100 cruises, was booked on a December Sydney to Melbourne Cunard cruise, rescheduled after Covid scuppered a planned Tokyo to Vancouver voyage.
Ms Adams, a passionate advocate for cruising, said she was sad about the devastation the pandemic had wreaked on the industry and the knock-on affect for travel agents, tour operators and suppliers, not to mention contract employees left without work.
“The fear has to be overcome and there has to be a way for [cruising] to start up again because it affects so many people and it did bring so much to the economy,” she said, adding: “If we cut Australia off from the large companies that cruise down here seasonally, we’re really doing our tourism industry an injustice.”
Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said: “The government continues to consult with the states and territories and the maritime industry on options for the staged resumption of cruising when the medical advice says that it is safe to do so.”
Steven Biviano, group general manager of Select Fresh Providores, a major supplier of produce to the cruise industry, said farmers needed to know when their supply channels would reopen so they could prepare.
“For some produce suppliers, cruising is 100 per cent of their business; that is what they work towards. Getting ready [for a restart] is the most important thing. It’s not just something that can be turned on.”
Additional reporting: Robyn Ironside
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout