THE Government of the Northern Territory has made a change to its ban on cruise ships, and will now only allow vessels to operate out of Darwin (pictured) if they have no more than 100 people on board, including crew members. The new rules, announced by NT Chief Health Officer...
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THE Government of the Northern Territory has made a change to its ban on cruise ships, and will now only allow vessels to operate out of Darwin (pictured) if they have no more than 100 people on board, including crew members.
The new rules, announced by NT Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie on Fri, will also only allow two vessels in NT waters at one time, will require all ships entering the Territory’s waters to berth in Darwin first, and will cap ports to one berth.
The move has already seen Coral Expeditions scrap Coral Adventurer, Coral Discoverer and Coral Geographer’s Darwin calls, scheduled to take place from Apr to Sep (CW 13 Nov 2020).
Other cruise operators set to be affected include APT, Aurora Expeditions, Ponant, Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours and Silversea Cruises, which all plan to operate in Northern Australia later this year.
Tourism Top End General Manager Glen Hingley told NT News the changes would see the Territory risk losing significant business to more welcoming ports in Western Australia, as cruise lines would not be able to afford to come to the NT.
Hingley said he was dumbfounded how the NT Govt decided on a 100 person per ship limit, with a CW reader pointing out The Ghan, which carries almost 350 pax, continues to operate to the NT uninterrupted.
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