MP says he’ll work with cruise operator
The MP for Sydney-Victoria says he’s been in talks with federal officials to ensure an expedition cruise company looking to base its operations in Sydney will have access to necessary services locally.
In formally making the announcement of the intention to base One Ocean Expeditions at the port of Sydney this week, CEO Andrew Prossin said improved infrastructure and access to services such as customs will be key to allowing it to make full use of the port.
Mark Eyking said he has spoken with representatives of Transport Canada and Canada Border Services Agency and he believes they will be able to provide services such as customs, as demand and the ships’ schedules warrant.
“I know there are a couple of federal things that he needs me to help him with,” Eyking said Tuesday. “I’ve been talking to the two ministers’ offices about that.
“Even though these departments’ regional head offices are in Halifax, they are more than obliging to come down and help out and to accommodate anything that we need to do.”
The handling of international garbage from its ships is also an issue that One Ocean Expeditions will have to deal with, Eyking said.
“It’s planning and making sure staff is around,” he said.
Prossin also said the company acquired a new ship that will be named the RCGS Resolute and will have Sydney as its home port beginning in November 2018.
The necessary infrastructure improvements will come with the $20 million second cruise ship berth to be constructed at the port, Prossin said.
Prossin said because offices are based in areas such as Halifax, there is an incentive to do business there. By being based in Sydney, Prossin said up to $6 million One Ocean currently spends in the Halifax area on provisions will be spent in the Sydney area.
Eyking said he first spoke to Prossin a decade ago about the Westmount native’s desire to base his company’s ships in Cape Breton.
“Now to see it happening after 10 years, good on him and it’s great to see,” Eyking said.
Prossin has said that the opening of a second berth at the port of Sydney scheduled for next fall would allow the company to shift its operations there. The hope is that the second berth will have the capacity for ships to take on fuel there.
In addition to expedition cruises, One Ocean also has port calls where they do planning for Arctic and Antarctic operations, where the ships come into port twice a year to spend a handful of days preparing to be at sea or in remote ports for extended periods of time.
Funding by the three levels of government for the second cruise ship berth was announced earlier this year.