Victor Harbor future cruise port?

[Ho Really]

A few years ago one of the luxury cruise lines (Regent or Oceania, I think) was looking at the possibility of calling at Victor Harbor. Personally the concept of mid to smaller sized cruise ships visiting Victor to be an excellent idea. As a keen observer of the cruise industry for over ten years I think it is about time we started to promote other SA destinations outside of Adelaide and Port Lincoln. Kingscote (Kangaroo Island) gets occasional visits from smaller vessels, especially those chartered by German companies, but they should be getting more. If places like Exmouth in WA are pushing for visits, why not Victor? We have the Fleurieu, Goolwa, the Murray, Coorong and even Kangaroo Island close by. Also historic train rides anywhere from Victor Harbor to Mount Barker. The facilities at Victor Harbor would only be good enough for vessels to anchor as the pier would be too short (and also not strong enough) for any cruise ship. Maybe the breakwater from Granite Island would have to be extended as well (probably a further 100 metres or so) to protect the bay from swells on not so good days. Either way, anchoring or docking at an extended pier, the possibility is there for the taking. Thoughts?

Cheers

[Aidan]

A few years ago one of the luxury cruise lines (Regent or Oceania, I think) was looking at the possibility of calling at Victor Harbor. Personally the concept of mid to smaller sized cruise ships visiting Victor to be an excellent idea. As a keen observer of the cruise industry for over ten years I think it is about time we started to promote other SA destinations outside of Adelaide and Port Lincoln. Kingscote (Kangaroo Island) gets occasional visits from smaller vessels, especially those chartered by German companies, but they should be getting more. If places like Exmouth in WA are pushing for visits, why not Victor? We have the Fleurieu, Goolwa, the Murray, Coorong and even Kangaroo Island close by. Also historic train rides anywhere from Victor Harbor to Mount Barker. The facilities at Victor Harbor would only be good enough for vessels to anchor as the pier would be too short (and also not strong enough) for any cruise ship. Maybe the breakwater from Granite Island would have to be extended as well (probably a further 100 metres or so) to protect the bay from swells on not so good days. Either way, anchoring or docking at an extended pier, the possibility is there for the taking. Thoughts?

How much would helicopter transfers cost? I suspect they'd be too expensive for anchoring to be a viable option.

[Ho Really]

How much would helicopter transfers cost? I suspect they'd be too expensive for anchoring to be a viable option.

Tendering pax to shore by boat is more convenient (as in numbers of pax transferred) and works out to be much, much cheaper fuel-wise. There are only a few expedition-type cruise vessels that have helicopters onboard, and they are normally used for aerial tours not for transfers. If it came to chartering helicopters from land-based providers, only a few of the bigger cruise ships would be capable of landing helicopters on their bow helipads, the rest would only use (or allow) helicopters for emergencies, like the rescues you see the coastguard or navy undertake where the helicopter hovers overhead.

Cheers

[Ho Really]

Victor had its first cruise ship visit on November 21st. Expedition ship MV ORION dropped anchor at Port Victor. Previously Robe and Port Lincoln had visits. This is great and we can only hope for better things to come. Now what we need is better facilities. At some regional ports ships can only anchor and tender pax to shore, but at Victor Harbor things could be much better. Like I mentioned earlier, Victor could easily do this with an extended and improved jetty. The water depth along an extended jetty could easily accommodate a vessel such as MV ORION. Larger cruise vessels, like many that visit Adelaide on circumnavigations of Australia or on world tours, would need approximately a minimum of 9-9.5 metre depths at low tide. QM2 would need even more, approx., 11 metres. But let's be realistic, Victor could still attract many cruise ships with shallower draughts. If the state government (and not only the SATC) is dead serious about attracting more cruise vessels at Victor and at other regional ports, it has to do more than just promotion. Build the facilities and the ships will come.

Cheers

PS. At Victor Harbor vessels with 8 to 8.5 metre draughts would anchor approximately 1000 metres (just over half a nautical mile) from shore.