Port Colborne still chasing cruise ships
Dock plans will continue even as cruise ship ban extends into 2022, says Mayor Bill Steele
Port Colborne is moving ahead with plans to make the city a destination for cruise ships even as the federal government bars vessels carrying more than 100 people from Canadian waters until next year.
“We figured this summer would probably be another wash for special events and cruise ships. I am surprised they (the federal government) even set it at 100,” said Mayor Bill Steele after last week’s announcement, which he learned of through the media.
Great Lakes cruise ships, such as Pearl Mist, Victory I and II, Hamburg and Le Champlain, that stop on the Welland Canal in the city typically carry between 100 and 450 passengers.
Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra announced two new interim orders last week, one of which includes keeping cruise ships from operating in all Canadian waters until Feb. 28, 2022, to stop the spread of the COVID-19 and prevent any outbreaks.
The announcement also said all other passenger vessels must continue following provincial, territorial, local and regional health authority guidance. Adventure-seeking pleasure craft are prohibited from entering Arctic waters, and passenger vessels carrying more than 12 people cannot enter Arctic coastal waters, including Nunatsiavut, Nunavik and the Labrador Coast.
“This year would have been more the influx of the smaller ships,” said Steele.
The city has been looking for ways to make the city a destination, and create an economic benefit, rather than a stopover only for the cruise ships transiting the canal.
That includes finding a berth for passengers to disembark. As it stands, vessels dock on the east side of the canal at
the Snider Docks, a working dock vital to shipments of gypsum, salt and other material.
Last year, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. worked on a dock by the former city works yards at the end of West Street south of Sugarloaf Street. That work included new fencing around the once popular ship-watching spot.
“That dock is pretty much ready to go for the smaller ships. Some of those smaller ones may arrive, but I don’t see a lot of people travelling yet, at least not until more vaccines are out,” said Steele.
With cruise ships barred from Canadian waters, the mayor said the seaway can continue rehabilitation work on a dock south of the city yards. That dock will handle the larger cruise ships that ply the Great Lakes.
Steele said his office, the chief administrative officer, special projects staff and the tourism office speak weekly with cruise ship companies.
In 2019, the city met with Viking River Cruises to discuss its expansion into the Great Lakes. Headquartered in Switzerland,
it is one of the largest cruise lines in the world. It is building an expedition vessel for 2022.
Officials met with cruise operator Voyager, also looking at making the city a destination stop.
On the pleasure craft side, Steele said until restrictions are lifted on the Canadian-american border for travellers and residents who live here in the summer he doesn’t foresee Sugarloaf Marina getting any busier this year.
He said even if American residents came across the lake in a boat, they’d have to self-isolate for at least 14 days and would need a larger vessel with sleeping quarters.
“I don’t see that happening,” Steele said.
Transport Canada said the one-year pleasure craft restriction in the north and East Coast does not apply to Canadian boats operating in Canadian waters on the Great Lakes.