Cruise ships

Erin Pearson
AN increase in the number of cruise ships scheduled to dock in Geelong will bring international visitors to our shores, according to City Hall.
Geelong’s council this week confirmed the planned arrival of Silversea line vessel Silver Shadow, due to berth at Cunningham Pier at 7am on February 13 next year.
Councillor Bruce Harwood said as well as providing Geelong with “invaluable tourism exposure”, surveys from previous cruise ship arrivals indicated that visits brought a range of strategic and economic benefits to the region.
Cr Harwood, who holds council’s tourism, major events and strategic development portfolios, said the Silver Shadow visited Geelong on two previous occasions and would offload passengers on the waterfront.
“The disembarked passengers will be taken on local tours before returning to Melbourne by road to rejoin the ship at Station Pier,” he said.
The Silver Shadow would be one of three vessels to dock in Geelong over the next 18 months and represented a “tremendous opportunity” to showcase the city to a wide range of international visitors, Cr Harwood said.
“A cruise ship new to Geelong – the Silver Spirit – will be berthing at Cunningham Pier several weeks later, on 26 February,” Cr Harwood said.
Silver Spirit would tie up at Cunningham Pier at 7am on 26 February, departing four hours later.
“It’s expected that passengers from the ship will spend their time in Geelong visiting local retail outlets and a number of other local attractions before re-boarding the ship for departure,” Cr Harwood said.
He said two other cruise ships, the Wilhelmsen Shipping Services vessels Spirit of Adventure and Regatta were scheduled to visit Geelong on December 17, 2011 and February 17, 2012 respectively.
A spokeswoman from Silversea said the Silver Shadow had capacity of 382 guests and a 28,248 tonnage.
She said the company’s newest vessel the Silver Spirit boasts a capacity of 540 guests and a 36,000 tonnage.
Victorian Regional Channels Authority harbour master Dilip Abraham said attracting the cruise liners was “something new” the authority was trying.
“We have been trying various combinations of cruise ship visits and we find that these kinds of ships see passengers leave the ship and visit our shops, vineyards and Great Ocean Road,” he said.
“Passengers are able to shop here and then head straight to Melbourne. We love welcoming passengers to City of Geelong.”