Cruise and Ferry Review - Summer/Spring 2020

2 5 4 Work to transform the mooring capacity at the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority’s Victoria Cruise Terminal is well underway – and is expected to be complete for the 2020 cruise season NORTH AMERICA: REPORT Raising the game T he Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) is working to extend the mooring capacity at the Victoria Cruise Terminal at The Breakwater District. e mooring dolphin will extend the current infrastructure by 58 metres. It will also include a breasting dolphin that will accommodate vessels up to 350 metres in length. More than C$6.8 million (US$4.47 million) has been allocated to the project in a bid to increase tourism and drive stronger economic development within the Greater Victoria region. “This project is one of the largest capital infrastructure spends in our not-for-profit’s history,” says Lindsay Gaunt, director of cruise development at GVHA. The project had a rocky start – significant sections of the steel pilings needed for the mooring dolphin were lost at sea in winter 2018. “The 200-foot-long steel pilings went overboard in December 2018 when the cargo ship carrying them hit rough weather,” explains Gaunt. “The ship was approximately 250 nautical miles from Vancouver, and about a day from the end of a 30-day voyage from Shanghai, China.” Due to this loss, GVHA had to reorder the steel pilings and the project was put on hold until late last year. Thankfully, the project is back on track. Work on the mooring dolphin extension is underway and is expected to be completed for the 2020 cruise season, which begins on 3 April. BUILDING SUCCESS The 2019 season, which wrapped up on 18 October, saw 254 ship calls in Victoria, bringing 709,042 passengers and 294,956 crew to the city. Thanks to its mooring dolphin extension, GVHA expects 284 ship calls and 770,000 passengers in 2020. Destination note: