We’ll work closely with our cruise line partners to ensure all requirements are met.
“Until we see the full suite of approved protocols, we can’t predict how operations will be impacted.
“It’s ready to begin operations as soon as the government and the cruise lines agree on industry-safe resumption plans,’’ the spokesperson says.
In WA, Fremantle’s heritage-listed passenger terminal is exceptional in being able to take two ships at once.Ī Port of Brisbane spokesperson says construction of the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal was completed in October 2020. It will assess two more wharf sites in Yarra Bay near Port Botany, although that has been suspended for a while. The Port Authority will prepare a “detailed business case’’ on increasing what was notoriously tight seasonal capacity for Sydney’s terminals at Circular Quay and White Bay. The authority’s Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay, which opened in its original form in 1960, has been given improvements to support the wharf and surrounding seabed: clearing accumulated material from the berthing area and protecting the seawall from future erosion. The new Eden Welcome Centre at Port of Eden.
The new home to cruising for the will support the region’s tourism industry for local arts, crafts and produce to the expected tens of thousands of tourists due to come.’’ Eden became able to take ships up to 325m long after an earlier $44m upgrade to its wharf. “When cruising does resume, Port Authority has built a new Welcome Centre in Eden.
This included filming for major projects such as the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings films, Netflix’s Pieces of Her TV series and Interceptor film, and independent film productions such as Carmen and 3000 Days of Longing. “During Covid, filming and photo shoots were allowed to continue at some of our ports as an essential business, under strict Covid safety guidelines. “We have also taken the opportunity to undertake upgrades to our terminal facilities, amenities, traffic, and pedestrian management to enhance the customer service experience when cruising returns,” she says. “During this time, Port Authority has continued to develop a ‘return to cruise plan’ in conjunction with federal and state agencies, cruise companies and industry bodies for a safe and secure resumption of cruise as soon as it is safe to do so,” a spokeswoman says. Port of Brisbane completed its $177m new International Cruise Terminal, Port Authority of NSW upgraded its Overseas Passenger Terminal at Sydney’s Circular Quay as well as expanding its Eden shore operation on the state’s far south coast and hosting film and television production, and Gladstone Ports Corporation and local authorities set about giving future passengers a better view of the harbour. P&O Cruises hopes to restart domestic cruises on December 18, a day after the rolling ban is currently due to end, with voyages for fully vaccinated guests and crew. Laid-up usually means being moored with enough crew to keep the liners shipshape. Overseas, many of the cruise ships that used to ply Australia’s waters are still laid up in far-flung moorings or berths in other countries’ waters, as cruising internationally begins a cautiously creeping return. Work on, and use of, terminals has continued, ranging from construction and maintenance to location filming.
It was the year of living without cruise ships for Australia’s ports, but time was not wasted in 2020-21 in anticipation of the laid-up liners’ return, even as the whole cruising industry, including port services, forcibly forwent several billion dollars in income.