8000 visitors mean shopping won't be a cruise

Dave Faulkner
Dave Faulkner
Christmas shopping should be avoided in Dunedin on December 22, as two cruise ships are due to arrive that day at Port Chalmers with more than 8000 passengers and crew, many of whom will visit the city.

Port Otago is coping with the increased passenger numbers, with new shore and wharfside facilities and in-house technology, chairman Dave Faulkner told 100% owner the Otago Regional Council yesterday.

The 347.7m-long Ovation of the Seas, with 5000 passengers and 1500 staff, arrives on the same day as the 294m-long Radiance of the Seas, with its 3000 passengers.

Mr Faulkner said the larger cruise ships ''came at a cost''. Port Otago had to install larger, stronger bollards on its wharves for the bigger ships to use and the current project was costing $180,000.

''Cruise ships have a shallow draft but are very high ... We don't want them to be blown around,'' Mr Faulkner told the councillors.

Port Otago had a large work shed next to the cruise ship wharf, which could be partitioned to receive passengers during the season.

Port Otago had developed its own IT application to manage the increasing number of passengers looking for tours; technology which operated similarly to an airport's arrivals and departure boards, but for tours, Mr Faulkner said.

Port Otago had 461 ship visits last year, including 70 cruise ships, and passenger numbers had risen 44% from 125,000 the previous year to 180,000, for the port company's year to June.

simon.hartley@odt.co.nz

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