Rules, port costs hit cruises

A CRUISE ship operator would not be returning to Tasmania partly because of the cost of ports.

Caledonian Sky

A CRUISE ship operator would not be returning to Tasmania partly because of the cost of Tasmanian ports, the operator has told the Productivity Commission.

Melbourne-based APT operates vessels around the world, generally carrying fewer than 114 passengers, and has made a submission to the commission's inquiry into Bass Strait shipping.

Chief executive Chris Hall said the company brought the Caledonian Sky to Tasmania this year, calling at Flinders Island, Wineglass Bay, Hobart and Maria Island.

"Unfortunately at this stage we have no plans to return to Tasmania in the foreseeable future for two main reasons – Australian cabotage and the cost of ports in Tasmania," he said.

"On our visit in March 2013, the port charges in Tasmania were excessive in relation to the size of the vessel.

"The smaller the ship, the less ability we have to divide the cost of port charges across the number of passengers.

"At this stage, a visit to Tasmania, Victoria or NSW is a loss-making exercise for us as an operator." Mr Hall contrasted charges in southern states with a "fair system" in Cairns.

He also said cabotage (coastal trading) laws required foreign-flagged vessels of less than 5000 tonnes to include an international port on any itinerary that involved embarking or disembarking passengers in Australia.

He said that meant any Tasmanian itinerary had to include New Zealand.

"We will find it extremely difficult to sell a 48-hour Tasman Sea crossing on a small ship to our loyal clientele," he said.

A Tasports spokeswoman said Tasports worked proactively with a variety of smaller expedition cruise vessels and offers pricing incentives to try to encourage increased visits of such vessels to Tasmanian ports.

"Tasports is a member of Cruise Down Under which represents the cruise ship segment nationally," she said.

She said Cruise Down Under was aware of the issues surrounding cabotage laws on smaller vessels.

A second cruise ship operator, Lindblad Expeditions, also slammed the coastal trading laws.

It said operations of its ship Orion were made prohibitively expensive by requirements to get temporary licences.

"The losers are the remote and regional areas who are not able to benefit from the high-yielding guests who travel on small vessels to these areas," the company's submission said.

Bell Bay Aluminium told the commission that the cost of freight from the port of Bell Bay was prohibitive.

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