But with a little help from Hugh Marshall, a marine pilot with extensive local knowledge of the nautical dangers, Celebrity Eclipse was able to visit Milford Sound yesterday without incident.
Mr Marshall said he had 29 years’ experience as a marine pilot and had piloted more than 100 vessels into Fiordland during the past 10 years, but yesterday was a momentous day in his career.
The ship’s visit was the first to the South Island since Covid-19 crippled the cruise industry two and a-half years ago.
"Sometimes it’s solid rain. But if it’s nice, it’s great seeing them out on deck, enjoying themselves. That’s what it’s all about. Milford Sound is spectacular and world renowned as a must-see place."
Given the lengthy disruption to cruise ship visits, Mr Marshall said it had been difficult to keep his "currency" qualifications for piloting such a large vessel in the South.
Generally, every 12 months, a pilot must complete a number of transits inwards, outwards and in various tidal conditions on vessels relevant to their pilot licence level.
Piloting into Fiordland had obviously not been possible over the past two years.
Mr Marshall boarded the vessel from a pilot boat off the Fiordland coast early yesterday morning before beginning work alongside the ship’s existing bridge team to navigate the vessel through the potentially tricky waters of Milford.
"While the captain retains full responsibility for their ship, they hand over "conduct" to the pilot, as the local specialist in navigating the particular stretch of water.
"When the vessel departs, the pilot guides the vessel back out into open waters and usually returns to shore via the pilot launch."
Because this cruise was also visiting Thompson, Doubtful, Breaksea and Dusky Sounds, he stayed on board.
"We leave the last sound about 5pm.
"I don’t need to be on the bridge the entire day.
"There are opportunities to rest between the sounds."
He said Celebrity Eclipse would continue on to Port Chalmers overnight, and he would remain on board to pilot the vessel into Otago Harbour this morning.
Passengers will be bussed to the central carriageway of the Octagon, which may affect traffic in the area.
Berthing numbers
- 111 cruise ships are scheduled to visit Otago this year.
- 104 cruise ships are scheduled to visit Fiordland.
- For Port Otago, the cruise season starts today and finishes April 9.
- The last cruise ship to visit Fiordland was in mid-March 2020.
