ADVERSE weather will create a bonus for Albany in southern Western Australia and disappointment for the town of Esperance, after a late change to the itinerary of cruise ship Artania.
Artania which began its current journey in Hamburg, Germany on 22 December, 2024 will sail into King George Sound on Thursday morning (3 April), where it will anchor, allowing its more than 1350 passengers to tender ashore.
This voyage is part of a 162-day itinerary concluding in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on 2 June, 2025.
Southern Ports Chief Executive Officer Keith Wilks said the change of destination provided an opportunity to introduce new visitors to the region.
“New visitors often come back after getting their first taste of what is on offer,” Mr Wilks said.
Artania had been scheduled to visit the Port of Esperance on 3 April, but because of adverse weather forecasts, the vessel will instead travel through to Albany, expected to arrive in port waters from 7.30am.
“We’re naturally disappointed that we are unable to welcome visitors to Esperance this time, but are hopeful we’ll see cruise vessels coming through the port in the future, particularly given the continued growth of cruising across our regions.”
“The nature of shipping means conditions can change very quickly, so I’m pleased we’ve been able to offer visitors an alternative destination at one of our other ports in such a short space of time.”
The rescheduled visit follows on from more than 5000 passengers visiting the Great Southern tourism destination aboard the MSC Magnifica and Crown Princess last week.
The Artania will be the sixteenth cruise to visit Albany this season, the next and final visit of the season will be by the Insignia on 6 May.
The Port of Bunbury will host the Artania two days after its stop in Albany. It will also visit Fremantle, Geraldton, Exmouth and Broome before leaving Western Australia to head for Indonesia.
Mr Wilks said the Artania’s visit to Bunbury would be the first visit by a cruise ship capable of carrying more than 1000 passengers to the port in several years.
“The South West is top-class tourism destination and cruise tourism is a great opportunity to showcase that further.”
In 2023-24 the cruise tourism sector generated $385 million and supported more than 1200 jobs for the WA economy.
