Another cruise ship visit next week has also been cancelled to allow for cleaning to take place.
Seven Seas Explorer, which bills itself as the world’s most luxurious cruise liner, has cancelled its planned visit to Dunedin tomorrow.
Instead it will be having its hull cleaned in Adelaide after it failed to meet bio-fouling standards due to the presence of algae, barnacles, tube worms and potential oysters.
Biosecurity New Zealand environmental health manager Paul Hallett said the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) was working with ship operator Regent Cruises to help it meet New Zealand’s bio-fouling requirements.
While Seven Seas Explorer was in Australia, it was advised it did not meet New Zealand bio-fouling standards.
The vessel’s operator informed the MPI yesterday it would get the hull cleaned and it aimed to visit New Zealand in just over a week, Mr Hallett said.
Biosecurity NZ conducts a risk assessment and surveillance on all boats and ships visiting New Zealand waters, through reports, images, videos and analysis of the vessel’s routes, age, type and cleaning history.
Since 2020, the MPI had undertaken significant stakeholder engagement to help vessel operators comply with bio-fouling requirements, Mr Hallett said.
Another ship, Queen Elizabeth, has also cancelled its visit to Dunedin on January 11.
Carnival Australia chief strategy and external affairs officer Teresa Lloyd said Queen Elizabeth was adjusting its itinerary to ensure there was sufficient time in its schedule for hull bio-fouling maintenance.
"The reason this is affecting the cruise lines more this season than in previous seasons is that the requirements in New Zealand, while not new, are now being applied more rigorously than in 2020, when the cruise industry was last operating in the region," Ms Lloyd said.
While cruise lines were affected, the broader industry was also adapting to the standard and there were many other commercial ships also requiring additional cleaning.
Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said it was disappointing for Dunedin to miss out on cruise ship visitor income and for the passengers who missed out on the beauty of the South.
However, the port expected 10% of all cruise ships to miss their visits because of weather or for other reasons.
The cancellations follow a Christmas Eve visit to Dunedin which was scuppered by stowaway snails aboard Coral Princess.
Shortly before the new year, Viking Orion and Star Breeze cancelled visits to Dunedin.
Viking Orion’s cancellation was due to bio-fouling, while Star Breeze’s cancellation was unexplained.
