Overnight cruise stays banned at Sydney’s White Bay terminal

Overnight
stays by cruise ships at the White Bay Cruise Terminal in Sydney, Australia,
have been banned until new regulations controlling the use of low-sulfur fuels
are enacted.

The Port
Authority of New South Wales suspended overnight stays as of May 27, a
spokesman said. 

The next
scheduled overnight stay at White Bay is in December 2015. The
spokesman said the ban was implemented to ensure that any future requests by
cruise lines to berth a ship burning high sulfur fuel overnight would be
declined.

There is a concern that sulfur emissions from cruise ship engine exhaust could threaten
Australia’s rapid ascent as a cruise market. Last week, a report from CLIA said
more than 1 million Australians cruised for the first time in 2014,
representing 4.2% of the population.

The prime
minister of New South Wales was reelected in March following pledges to bring
cruise sulfur emissions in line with North America’s current 0.1% standard.

In banning
overnight stays, CEO Grant Gilfillan said
the port authority was responding to community concerns. He said the ban
will stay in place until the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority has regulated the use of low sulphur fuel by ships berthing at White
Bay.