Lyttelton welcomes first cruise ship to rebuilt terminal

Christchurch is now a two-cruise-port town.

This morning the first cruise ship arrived at Lyttelton's newly built Cruise Wharf.

Carrying almost 3000 passengers, the 122,000 tonne Celebrity Eclipse is the largest passenger ship to dock in Christchurch since the 2011 rebuild.

In the years since the earthquakes Akaroa, on the far side of Banks Peninsula, took over as the main cruise destination for Canterbury. Following the pandemic Maritime Border Order neither has seen any international cruise passengers since the beginning of 2020.

In a subdued event, the freshly built cruise berth was officially opened by Mayor Lianne Dalziel in November that year, eight months into a national 'cruise ban'. Now the wait is over.

It is with great enthusiasm that the first arrivals were welcomed at the beginning of a 197,000 passenger season, from 27 October to April 2023.

The wharf on Lyttelton Harbour will be able to accommodate far larger ships including the Ovation of the Seas. The largest ship to ever visit New Zealand, the Ovation's 6000 passengers and crew are due to dock in Lyttelton next Thursday.

"We've got so much to be proud of as a city, much of which has been regenerated, and we want to encourage our visitors to appreciate all we have to offer and come back," says Tracey Wilson, acting GM of Destination for Christchurch NZ.

Celebrity Cruises VP and regional managing director for New Zealand and APAC, Tim Jones was delighted to be bringing the first ship into the brand new port this week.

"These have been challenging times for those of us who are reliant on the travel and hospitality industry but today is a day of tremendous hope and optimism as we celebrate the restart of cruise tourism in Christchurch," said Jones.

The Return

Eclipse is the first large cruise ship to arrive in Lyttelton since the 2011 quakes.

Calling into Christchurch five times this season, the ship will bring 15000 passengers from around the world. These include a floating Lord of The Rings Convention "Cruise to Middle-earth", which arrives in January.

Travel agent and convention planner Cathy Udovch said that the rebuilt wharf has allowed the Tolkien itinerary to return after a decade.

"I've been blocking space on cruises that specifically said Lyttelton was the Christchurch port, each season during the pandemic, waiting for the one that I thought was finally going to get to sail again."

Two ports, one Peninsula

Even ahead of the lifting of the Maritime Border Order, Christchurch was planning a different look to the cruise calendar.

The Eclipse marks the beginning of an 85-ship season across the Ports of Lyttelton and Akaroa, roughly 20 of which will call into Akaroa harbour.

This is a huge reduction on the 90 arrivals into Akaroa seen during the 2019/20.

While some of this is the gradual return to New Zealand following two and a half years without cruise traffic, ECAN said that a smaller, shorter season could be expected on environmental and infrastructural grounds.

In previous summers, when a ship was in harbour, the 624 residents felt it. As did the area's marine life.

Having a larger cruise wharf in the main port of Lyttelton will help ease some of the pressures previously seen by Banks peninsula locals during summers past.

Back in May, Harbourmaster Jim Dilley said that it would be put to residents whether they thought cruise traffic was back at an acceptable level.

Currently the largest scheduled arrival into Akaroa is the 2414 passenger Norwegian Spirit, over new year. The majority of ships will be between 400 to 700 passengers.

It won't just be residents that will notice a reduced number of cruise passengers.

A redesign of the new cruise berth was made early in the process after concerns on the impact on the area's marine life. Specifically this was to protect Hector's Dolphins which are endemic to the area. The marine mammals have been a big draw for cruise tourists, with many itineraries offering dolphin safari experiences on excursions out into the harbour.

During the hiatus of cruise visits ECAN worked with the Department of Conservation and LINZ/ Toitū Te Whenua to monitor the impact of reduced cruise traffic in the harbours.

In 2019 the group commissioned a review into environmental damage from cruise ship propeller wash and anchoring activities in Akaroa Harbour. It was found that cruise ship activity had "potential for significant or unacceptable adverse ecological effects," but further research was needed.

-By Thomas Bywater