Port can cope with 34% more cruise ships: CEO
PORT Otago is confident Dunedin can cope with a 34% increase in cruise ship numbers next year.
At an Otago Regional Council meeting this week, Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said 119 cruise ships were pencilled in for next season, up on the 89 which were scheduled for 201718.
Mr Winders said its multipurpose wharf would be a great asset.
‘‘It gives us flexibility, whereas this year we’ve been constrained as we’ve been building it, so we’ve had days where we’ve had to move a log ship to make way for a cruise ship, for example.’’
The port needed to be balanced to look after log and container ships first and fit cruise ships around them, he said.
The increase in cruise ship bookings was ‘‘significant’’.
‘‘It’ll be confirmed in August, but we don’t expect the number to move too much.’’
The ships reserved far in advance and 100 were already booked for the 201920 season, he said.
Dunedin iSite visitor centre manager Louise van de Vlierd said the city could ‘‘definitely’’ deal with the num ber of cruise ships, but it would take a lot of forward planning.
‘‘The best thing about the cruise ship industry is we have plenty of notice of how big they are, how long they’re staying.’’
Next season there would be 94 cruise ship days, compared with 72 this season, she said.
‘‘Now we’re just making sure businesses are prepared for how big it’s going to be and that everyone has their resources in place.’’
There would always be unforeseen issues, she said.
‘‘The thing is it brings so much into the city and brings so much into the economy.’’
Radiance of the Seas is the last cruise ship to visit this season, on April 13.