Strong winds prevent cruise ships berthing in St Kitts
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| Published on Monday, February 23, 2009 |
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BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CUOPM): Strong winds caused by a strong Atlantic system prevented two of the four scheduled cruise ships from docking at Port Zante over the weekend.
While the 1,875-passenger Island Star and the 3,473-passenger, Carnival Victory were able to berth, “MS Ventura aborted efforts on Saturday, after trying to berth in winds up to 32 knots.
On Sunday, unusually strong winds gusting as high as 45 knots forced MS Grand Princess (3,100 passengers) to turn away.
In each case, the captains chose not to jeopardise the safety of passengers and crew, and risk damaging the vessel or pier,” said Head of Corporate Affairs and Public Relations at the St Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) Delcia Bradley-King in a press release on Sunday.
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| Carnival Miracle and Tug Tyson at Port Zante. Photo by Erasmus Williams |
She noted that during similar windy conditions last season, Princess Cruise Line made it clear that broadside winds above 25 knots would always negatively impact berthing at the Port Zante.
SCASPA said since the 2008/2009 Cruise Season began last October, four vessels have been unable to berth all because of extremely windy conditions and the availability of a tug.
During that period, St Kitts received four unscheduled visits as vessels were unable to dock at ports for various reasons.
She said that with over 200 cruise visits and more than 425,000 passengers expected this year, stakeholders in the tourism industry have high expectations for a successful cruise year.
“SCASPA remains committed to doing everything it can to minimize the number of cancellations, and to accommodate ships making unscheduled calls,” said the SCASPA release. | | | | Reads : 1038 | | | |
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