Sydney losing out without 2nd cruise ship berth, says chamber of commerce
Hal Higgins | CBC News | Posted: January 12, 2017 9:27 PM | Last Updated: January 12, 2017
Meeting scheduled for Saturday to discuss benefits of $20-million proposal to build another berth
Millions of dollars in potential business are being lost in Sydney, N.S., because there is no second berth at the port for cruise ships, according to a local business group.
"When you cannot provide a berth for a vessel coming into the harbour, they simply don't want to come," said Adrian White, CEO of the Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce.
The benefits of adding a second berth will be discussed at a public meeting Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion on the waterfront.
Building a second berth is expected to cost $20 million. The Cape Breton Regional Municipality has committed to covering a third, and Mayor Cecil Clarke has said the province calls it a priority for infrastructure funding. An application has also been made for federal funding.
When two cruise ships are in port, passengers from one must take a "tender" craft if they want to get to shore. White said most passengers are seniors who are not interested in stepping down into another boat, being ferried ashore, and then climbing a set of stairs to get on the dock.
"You lose an awful lot of business on shore because people don't get off the vessels," he said.
In some cases the cruise lines won't come to the port at all if they know there's no berth available, he added.
'Critical timeline'
Clarke is asking residents and businesses to support the building of a second berth.
Bernadette MacNeil, manager of cruise marketing for the Port of Sydney Development Corporation, plans to draw attention at Saturday's meeting to the importance of securing federal funding as soon as possible to capitalize on opportunities.
MacNeil said she intends to "emphasize the critical timeline for construction to be finished in time for the 2018 cruise season."
In a recent news release, Clarke said "without a second berth, we will lose out on as much as $48 million in new business."