Giant cruise ships prove why bigger isn't always better

Friday, 13 January 2023

The Ovation of the Seas arrives at Port Chalmers, Dunedin.

Lana Hart is a Christchurch-based writer, broadcaster and tutor.

OPINION: Driving through the Lyttelton tunnel from Christchurch and popping out into the light on the other side, I was overcome by the sight of a new block of high density housing I had never seen before, right next to the port.

Hundreds of small windows blinked back at me, each with their own enclosed balcony and deck chair. It took me a few seconds to realise it was a cruise ship berthed pyramid-like in Lyttelton port.

Observing the gargantuan vessel dwarfing the picturesque port town, many thoughts came to mind, like: That’s big. The septic tanks must be stadium-sized. Covid. What’s pulsing out of those smokestacks? I hope Christchurch’s and Lyttelton’s businesses can cope with those numbers and that they do a good trade today. And other thoughts.

* 'Good reason to be wary' about mixing with big unmasked groups of cruise ship passengers

* Massive cruise ship brings thousands of visitors to Christchurch - and this time shops were open

A small section of the cabins on board the Ovation of the Seas, whose visit confirmed that the cruise industry is back in New Zealand big time.

Nearly 3000 passengers and crew were aboard that vessel, which was making its way across several ports throughout New Zealand.

When Lyttelton port opened its new $67 million berth for cruise ships a couple of months ago, another ship carrying 4000 passengers, the Ovation of the Seas, was one of the first to use it.

A cruise ship steams through the Marlborough Sounds bound for Picton. The vessels may have equipment installed to remove pollutants from their sulphur-laden exhaust, but that doesn’t necessarily solve the problem.

That day, there were more international visitors to Lyttelton than local residents.

The physical size of cruise ships entering New Zealand serves as a symbol of just how small we are compared to the number of tourists that are now arriving by ship. As the Ovation of the Seas outsized Lyttelton, perhaps the world’s largest cruise ships outsize New Zealand.

After all, the environmental impacts of these floating towns is significant.

A recent global review of cruise liners’ impacts found that they are “a major source of environmental pollution and degradation, with air, water, soil, fragile habitats and areas and wildlife affected”.

Ovation of the Seas passengers queue in Lyttelton to catch a shuttle back to their cruise.

University of Auckland urban planning lecturer Timothy Welch points out that billions of litres of untreated wastewater are discharged by cruise ships into the oceans each year; that a single cruise ship can emit the same harmful particulate matter in a day as a million cars; and that all but the most modern vessels run on fuel heavy with sulphurs which, when “scrubbed” from the ship’s smokestacks, are eventually dumped into the sea, harming reefs, wildlife, and natural ecosystems.

Some may argue that if the economic benefit is vast – especially in a post-pandemic era when tourism businesses really need a boost – then some of these funds can be turned towards mitigating the negative environmental effects that these vessels inflict.

But despite the pretence that cruise ships bring big spenders to the country, they in fact contribute very little to our overall visitor spending.

With meals and accommodation provided on board, most passenger spending goes to the international companies that own them, not the local economies they visit. Cruise ships to New Zealand only contribute 3% of international visitor spending.

While negative environmental impacts without a significant economic benefit is one factor to consider when weighing up the value of the cruising industry, it’s not the only one.

Lana Hart: Seeing a vast cruise ship looming over Lyttelton’s port brought many questions to mind.

As a geographically isolated country, a steady flow of interactions with the rest of the world is important to almost every aspect of life here: business, sport and cultural enrichment, innovation, keeping families together, and more.

We want to share, not hide, the unique character and beauty of our country, and in return, it helps us be a vibrant country of connections, where others can come to explore, rest, and be inspired by our way of life.

We work hard at overcoming the distances that separate us from the rest of the world; water vessels bringing people have been a constant factor in Aotearoa’s long history.

We shouldn’t ban cruise ships from our shores, but we should keep the sector proportionate to our size and its ability to contribute to New Zealand’s betterment.

Otago University tourism professor James Higham argues that this should already be happening.

The Government’s commitment to “regenerative tourism” in the aftermath of the pandemic and its upholding of Treasury’s living standards index should regulate the cruise ship sector, so that ship visits work towards improving the wellbeing of New Zealand’s natural, financial, human/cultural, and social outcomes, he says.

A part of managing the sector is managing the size of the ship.

As we ramp up our country’s important exchanges with the wider world, we need to ensure these interactions remain proportionate to the size of our country, our infrastructure and our delicate resources.

A few days before I was surprised to find an apartment block floating in Lyttelton port, a beautiful 300-person vessel with sweeping decks and large observation windows was berthed there.

Instead of thoughts about environmental and visual pollution and a tourist trade out of sync with our resources, I thought, “lucky travellers, I hope they enjoy my beautiful city.”

This article was amended to clarify that it refers to two separate cruise ships visiting Lyttelton.