Auckland experiences busiest ever week for cruise ships
Auckland has enjoyed its busiest ever week for cruise ship arrivals, including having four cruise ships docking on the same day for the first time ever on Saturday 18 February.
Since Monday 12 February, Auckland has had at least one cruise ship in port every day, with two or three ships docked the majority of the days.
Four in one day
Two of the visiting ships in port on Saturday, the Seabourn Encore and the Norwegian Star, were on their first voyages to Auckland.
A third ship, The World, which arrived in port on Friday, is the largest private residential ship in the world. It is on its way to Asia and across the Pacific to the North American west coast and Alaska. The ship’s annual journey is decided by its 165 residents and captain.
The fourth ship in port, L’Austral, is a mega-yacht with 132 cabins which travels the world, including exploring sub Antarctic islands such as Macquarie, Campbell and the Antipodes.
The four ships brought a total of 3550 passengers to Auckland and came from Australia, North America and Europe.
Valuable contributors to the economy
Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) Chief Executive Brett O’Riley says cruise ships are a valuable contributor to Auckland’s booming visitor economy.
“Forecasts from Cruise New Zealand say Auckland will welcome a total of 182,852 passengers and 66,400 crew this season, contributing an estimated $204 million to the region.
“The visitor economy is now worth $7.4 billion to Auckland, and the cruise industry, which is forecast to grow to $470 million in 2030, plays an integral role in fuelling future growth in this valuable sector.”
The 2016/17 season has also seen the arrival of the largest ship to ever sail in New Zealand, Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas.
Ovation of the Seas stopped in Auckland three times, carrying between 4200 and 5000 passengers per visit, and contributing an estimated $1.4 million to the economy with each stop.
Due to its size the vessel was moored in the harbour with passengers who disembarked having to be tendered to shore by smaller boats.
Bigger ships mean infrastructure needed
Mr O’Riley says while Auckland is fortunate to welcome cruise ships in a range of sizes, including luxury liners, there is a growing trend for cruise lines to build larger ships like Ovation of the Seas.
“Auckland will need to develop further cruise infrastructure to accommodate the larger cruise ships,” he says.
“We know the cruise lines love including Auckland in their itineraries, however if we don’t have the infrastructure to accommodate the larger ships they are building we will start to see the region missing out.”
Working to accommodate growth
ATEED is continuing to work with the wider council group to investigate the possibility of developing infrastructure to accommodate the increasing number of large ships wishing to visit Auckland.
The Ports of Auckland have commissioned an independent health and safety report on the various options for providing access to a mooring dolphin, and an independent economic impact benefit report commissioned by Panuku which considers other waterfront and downtown projects is also in train.
A number of alternative mooring options are being assessed to evaluate their suitability for mooring large ships at Queens Wharf, the operational functionality and their cost effectiveness.
Council is aiming to make a decision in March on the preferred option.