Auckland infrastructure falling behind

“WE ARE not trying to steal your harbour...we want to invest in your future.”

That was the impassioned plea to the city of Auckland from New Zealand Cruise Association (NZCA) CEO Debbie Summers as she opened the organisation’s annual conference last Fri.

Summers highlighted the ongoing challenges for cruise ships visiting Auckland, which is unable to berth vessels greater than 330m in length.

“Turnaround business is challenging to say the least...we are losing business, yet the cruise lines want to visit,” she said.

Summers cited recent official figures from Statistics New Zealand ( CW 19 Aug) which noted that cruise spend across NZ was up 84% since 2015.

“The failure of this city, this country to keep up quickly enough will have a negative impact on regional communities... there is no escaping that fact.”

Currently the restrictions mean vessels such as Ovation of the Seas must be serviced via tendering, making logistics very challenging for the vessel’s almost 6,500 passengers & crew.

Current plans to expand capacity by installing two “dolphin” mooring structures in Auckland harbour have been stymied due to local opposition, with a review not due until Mar.

The strength of the NZ cruise sector was reflected in a record attendance at the seventh annual NZCA conference, with 260 delegates and a host of senior speakers including CLIA Chairman Adam Goldstein from Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Carnival Australia Chair Ann Sherry, Silversea Cruises MD Adam Armstrong, Ponant’s Sarina Bratton and more.