Port-Vila is anticipating the resumption of cruise ships after the twin cyclones with the first ship scheduled to arrive on Sunday as announced by the Government.
All cruise vessels to Port-Vila were temporarily suspended by the Government for safety reasons, due to the infrastructural damage caused by Tc Judy and TC Kevin in March.
P&O Carnival Pacific Adventure, with a carrying capacity of over 3000 passengers is scheduled to berth in Port-Vila on Sunday.
With the ongoing infrastructure repair at the Port-Vila main wharf, the Government approved a temporary cruise tender barge solution at the seafront, to allow visitors to disembark, mama handicraft vendors to relocate to the Waisuke area (next to Municipality market), tour operators to manage traffic flow of their day-guests and authorities to ensure the safety and security of both the visitors and the general public.
“We look forward to cruise ships returning to Port-Vila. It is important to note that the cruise business has not stopped following the two cyclones, both Mystery Island and Luganville have continued receiving cruise calls in March and April and we look forward to Port-Vila, as the Capital city, to start welcoming its cruise schedules again.
From November 2022 to February 2023 alone, the Government collected vt71,721,386 in port fees and the spill over on the value chain to the rest of the industry is tremendous, therefore, it is our government priority to ensure the cruise activities return to support our post disaster economic recovery efforts, “said Matai Seremaiah Nawalu, Minister of Tourism, Trade, Commerce and Ni-Vanuatu Business.
The National Cruise Tourism Management Committee (NTMC) was presented with a few optional solutions in the month of March, in order to successfully facilitate and coordinate the safe return of the cruise vessels.
On 13 April 2023, the Government issued a Ministerial Order 23. Of 2023 to allow the cruise ships to berth at the Seafront.
The Department of Ports & Harbour was mandated to facilitate tendering by the cruise ships and allow cruise companies to offload at the Port-Vila seafront seawall.
In addition, the Government endorsed, through the Department of Ports & Harbor, to provide a 50 percent reduction on the port of calls tariff to all cruise ships during the period of the State of Emergency (SoE), as a response and recovery measure to support the fast return of cruise schedules.
The Department of Tourism (DoT), Department of Ports & Harbor (DPH), the Vanuatu Maritime Safety Authority (VMSA), the Port Vila Municipality Council (PVMC), the Vanuatu Police Force (VPF), the Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Department of Industry (DoI), the Public Land Transport Authority (PLTA), the Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO), Ifira Trustees Ltd (ITL) and other stakeholders have been working collaboratively and tirelessly to put in place a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and Traffic Management Plan (TMP) for the temporary cruise solution.
The cruise line has since approved the return of cruise ships for 30 April and 9 May 2023, pending the Port-Vila Main Wharf to be ready and operational by mid-May.
Photo supplied Caption: Cruise ship in Port Vila.