Cruise-ship growth facing logjams as Seattle sails ahead
The Port of Vancouver faces a number of bottlenecks as it tries to accommodate a burgeoning cruise-ship industry.
Large, modern cruise ships will bring 840,000 passengers to Vancouver streets this year, but growing that number may not be possible without significant investments in infrastructure, according to Greg Wirtz, president and CEO of the industry group Cruise Lines International Association, North West and Canada.
“The port authority opted to move the cruise business to Canada Place when they converted Ballantyne Pier to cargo, so they had other priorities and we accept that,” he said. “But now we have one terminal instead of two and it’s not enough.”
Canada Place is operating at “maximum capacity during the busy cruise season,” said Tom Corsie, vice-president real estate, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
The terminal was designed for a generation of cruise ships with less than half the capacity of today’s bigger vessels, which leads to crowding in the terminal and surrounding area.
Ships are still getting bigger, Wirtz said. So big, in fact, that some — such as Royal Caribbean International’s Explorer of the Seas — won’t even fit under the Lions Gate Bridge.
Canada Place has been able to accommodate almost all vessels, with just a couple of exceptions due to size, according to the port.
“The majority of vessels to date can be accommodated, but even as larger vessels are introduced, cruise lines have diverse fleets with different vessel sizes to offer passengers a variety of options from mass market to luxury options,” said a written response.
However, Seattle has just overtaken Vancouver with more than one million visits this year.
That’s up from zero less than 20 years ago.
The Emerald City also boasts two terminals to Vancouver’s one and neither has the encumbrance of a bridge blocking ships, said Wirtz.
The Bell Street Cruise Terminal at Pier 66 was opened earlier this year after the Port of Seattle and Norwegian Cruise Lines each contributed $19 million for an expansion to accommodate larger ships.
“Seattle is winning,” said Wirtz. “We should be years into the planning for another terminal and we’re not.”
Because the Lions Gate Bridge creates a physical barrier to the largest ships entering the harbour, a new terminal might have to be located as far south as Tsawwassen, he said.
The port is “exploring how increased cruise traffic could be accommodated,” said Corsie.
Solutions could include improvements to Canada Place or a new terminal. Preliminary analysis suggests there may be locations in the Lower Mainland for a terminal, but feasibility studies would be required before a proposal is put forward, he said.
Port of Vancouver CEO Robin Silvester told media that Richmond and Delta are locations that best meet the port’s needs.
In the meantime, every ship that opts for Seattle over Vancouver is a hit in the pocketbook. Each ship that visits Canada Place generates $3 million in direct economic activity, according to the port authority.
In season, thousands of passengers pass through the terminal each day, with a one-day record of nearly 16,000 set last May when three vessels were berthed.
“Those people are staying in our hotels, shopping in our shops and eating in our restaurants,” said Wirtz. “We are selling a unique downtown Vancouver experience.”