The Norwegian Dawn cruise ship was using her own boats to bring passengers to shore yesterday [Sept 12], after they changed their normal schedule due to the weather conditions created by Tropical Storm Leslie.
The ship arrived late, and to make up for lost time they asked if could they stay for extra time, with the ship moving from Dockyard to the Great Sound to make space for the Norwegian Star and the Explorer of the Seas who were scheduled to arrive yesterday morning.
A Government spokesperson said: “Given the arrival of the other two scheduled ships at the Dockyard berths, allowing the Norwegian Dawn to anchor and tender passengers into Hamilton today was seen as the best option given schedule changes attributed to Tropical Storm Leslie on Sunday.
“The alternative may have been the Norwegian Dawn completely bypassing Bermuda or sailing early if tendering today could not be assured.”
Some local operators were less than happy with this arrangement, saying that locals could have been used to transport the passengers. In response, Government said that any future dialogue with the Tour Boat Industry through a formalized body is encouraged by the Department, and they would consider any plan to organize themselves at short notice to assist in facilitating the mass passenger lift to and from shore as is required in such cases.
Here is the full statement from the Bermuda Transport Ministry:
“Currently there is no agreement to use local boats to ferry passengers. The situation with the use of the ship tenders arose due to Tropical Storm Leslie and the lack of availability of a berth for the Norwegian Dawn.
“It was originally feared that the Norwegian Dawn would be forced to bypass Bermuda altogether due to the storm. By Saturday it appeared more or less certain that the Captain of the ship was comfortable coming in behind the storm – and the Dawn took pilot at around 4pm Monday afternoon as opposed to the normal Sunday arrival.
“To make up for her lost time in port, NCL further asked if the Dawn could stay through Wednesday with the ship moving from her Dockyard berth to anchor in the Great Sound given the scheduled Wednesday morning arrival of the Norwegian Star and the Explorer of the Seas.
“This was agreed with the Dawn using her tenders to bring passengers to shore and the Department of Marine and Ports also providing tender service. Such ship tendering operations are approved on a case by case basis by the Department and with certain marine safety conditions attached.
“While not a frequent occurrence, a ship anchoring and using her tenders to transport passengers is nothing new in Bermuda. Given the arrival of the other two scheduled ships at the Dockyard berths, allowing the Norwegian Dawn to anchor and tender passengers into Hamilton today was seen as the best option given schedule changes attributed to Tropical Storm Leslie on Sunday.
“The alternative may have been the Norwegian Dawn completely bypassing Bermuda or sailing early if tendering today could not be assured. The Government tender Bermudian is providing support to this process in conjunction with the ship’s own tenders.
“Any future dialogue with the Tour Boat Industry through a formalized body is encouraged by the Department. We would consider any plan put forward by such an Association to organize themselves at short notice to assist in facilitating the mass passenger lift to and from shore as is required in such cases.
“We are interested in hearing their views given changes in both the international cruise and local tour boat industry and using such an Association as a mechanism for discussing operational and policy decisions of concern in an organized way would seem beneficial,” the statement concluded.
Source: bernews.com
