By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Spring’s moving in, and the outlook for the large ship cruise season remains troubled, but the rapid rate of vaccinations in the country has given cruise lines cause for hope.
That was the message delivered Tuesday by an industry official, Fred Reeder, in a presentation to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce. Reeder is the Cruise Lines International Association Port Manager for Sitka.
“I don’t think you’re going to see a large ship before July and maybe we don’t see any this year,” Reeder said in the video-conference. “I just don’t know and we don’t know. Our standard answer is we’d like to tell you but we really don’t know. We’re hopeful.”
He said most large ships have already canceled any planned sailings prior to July, but noted that the pace of vaccinations is cause for optimism.
“As the summer goes on, it will be interesting to notice,” he said.
He cited a news report that 2.9 million Americans were vaccinated Monday, and the daily average is now over two million.
“That’s good news and we should all celebrate that,” he said.
Jaren Johnson installs windows on the new building at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal, formerly called the Old Sitka Dock, off Halibut Point Road this afternoon. Even without a large cruise ship season to spur things along this year, work on the 34,500 square-foot cruise passenger building is expected to be completed by this summer said Chris McGraw, Halibut Point Marine Services general manager. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
Another cruise line spokesman said the industry is ready and waiting for the opportunity to resume business.
“Our message pretty much is as things open up please don’t forget about the cruise industry – we’ve spent a lot of time and we believe we can resume safely. We’d like the opportunity to operate like everyone else as the economy opens up and health conditions improve,” CLIA spokesman Mike Tibbles said at the meeting
He highlighted the efforts by the industry to keep cruising safe in Europe and Asia in recent months.
“We’re pleased to see that nearly 350,000 people have now cruised, mostly in Europe and Asia, under those protocols. So they have proven to be very effective,” Tibbles reported.
With the traditional start of the cruise season only two months away, Tibbles stressed the need for timely action.
“We really do not have guidance on the trial phases or what’s expected from the CDC on the conditional sail orders. Makes it a little difficult to plan,” he said. “Every day that we lose at this point is a day that likely comes off of our season, so time is of the essence.”
Reeder told the Chamber that the Alaska congressional delegation is working to find a “workaround” of the closure of Canadian ports to Alaska-bound ships.
“They are trying to do what they can to bypass the Canada moratorium on cruise ships,” Reeder said. “The Jones Act and a subset of that, the Passenger Vessel Service Act, does affect Alaska cruising.”
On Feb. 24, Rep. Don Young introduced the Alaska Tourism Recovery Act, aimed at allowing large cruise ships to count a voyage to Alaska as a foreign stop.
Young’s office said the bill would provide a “temporary workaround by deeming round-trip voyages between Alaska and Washington State as foreign voyages for the purposes of U.S. law.”
“Importantly, the provisions are temporary and would only apply during the closure of Canadian waters and ports,” Young’s office said in the news release.
Alaska Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski introduced a companion bill in the Senate on March 5.
The Passenger Vessel Service Act, often referred to under the umbrella of the Jones Act, requires foreign flagged vessels to stop in at least one foreign port on their route, or else pay a $798 fine per passenger, Reeder said in answer to a question from an audience member.
He added that cruise lines are reluctant to violate laws, regardless of fines.
“The cruise lines want to be good partners and good citizens and good companies. They don’t like breaking the law, so they really try to avoid doing things that would result in a fine,” he said.
Tibbles also stressed the need for the cruise lines to abide by the rules.
“It’s not just a fine, it’s the law. Everywhere the cruise lines operate we always strive to meet or exceed all laws… We need to follow the rules,” he said
On another topic, Reeder recommended against raising the cruise ship head tax as a revenue source for the city.
“I would caution the city of going down that road at this point,” he said. “Cruising, when it returns to normal, Sitka is going to receive substantially more passengers than we’ve had before. And we’ve seen before the money gets spread out throughout the community,”
He said the sales tax was a more effective way to net money from tourists.
He also warned that if the fiscal climate becomes unfavorable, cruise lines can change port calls.
“Ships are movable assets and they pretty much go where it’s most friendly,” he said.
