City pays as wind keeps ship at bay

Hamish Heard
GEELONG ratepayers picked up a tab nudging $30,000 for a Dutch cruise ship to lay anchor off Queenscliff for several hours last weekend.
The City’s tandem bid with Geelong Otway Tourism to lure the giant luxury liner Statendam to Cunningham Pier collapsed when the ship’s captain pulled the plug due to rough weather on Sunday.
Deputy Mayor John Mitchell said the costly exercise would lead council to rethink the viability of spending money to lure and accommodate cruise ships in the future.
“It is something that has to be reconsidered, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
He said the bill for the non-event was between $ 20,000 and $30,000, mostly spent on preparing the pier and surrounding waters as well as security and an official welcome for the crew and passengers.
Councillors voted at a meeting in October to spend the money to accommodate the ship.
Mayor Bruce Harwood at the time predicted the investment would attract economic and tourism benefits up to $350,000 during the planned 12-hour stopover.
But the windy and choppy conditions meant the 1200 mainly American and Canadian passengers remained onboard the vessel which didn’t enter a channel to catch a glimpse of Geelong’s waterfront showcase.
The only passenger to make it off the ship and into Geelong was an elderly female transferred to Geelong Hospital for medical attention.
Cr Mitchell said it was a “disappointing outcome”.
“With the information that was before us when the decision was made to go ahead with getting the Statendam, we thought we were making the right decision,” Cr Mitchell said.
“Unfortunately it probably wasn’t.”
Geelong Otway Tourism chief Roger Grant agreed with Cr Mitchell about the need to review the viability of spending money luring cruise ships.
“It was always the intention following this visit, or non-visit, to present a paper to council outlining the cost benefit of cruise ships coming to Geelong,” Mr Grant said.
However, Mr Grant said cruise ships were a high-yielding market and a proven benefit to host cities.
“When council does spend money on cruise shipping it’s not a handout, it’s an investment in a sound economic return,” Mr Grant said.