New Zealand’s first purpose-built cruise ship facility will be officially opened today.

While COVID-19 border restrictions have impacted the 2020/21 cruise season, the berth’s completion is a significant milestone worth celebrating, says Lyttelton Port Company’s (LPC) Chief Executive Officer Roger Gray.

“The Cruise Berth has been delivered on-time and on budget, despite the challenges of COVID-19. This will be a fantastic long-term asset for Christchurch and Canterbury,” says Roger.

“The project raised the standard of practice in protecting marine mammals in construction projects in New Zealand by designing with nature in mind,” says Roger.

The redesign of the wharf structure also presented LPC an opportunity to significantly reduce the embodied carbon emissions of the wharf by adopting a design that reduced steel and concrete use.

While the COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown in March did halt work on the project, the berth has been completed on time and on budget.

 Large cruise vessels have been unable to berth since the February 2011 earthquake. With the new cruise berth in place,

LPC will be able to welcome the full range of cruise vessels, including ships that cater for 6,000 passengers and 2,000 staff.

While more than 70 bookings for cruise ships have been received for the 2020/21 season, due to current border restrictions it is unlikely these vessels will visit Lyttelton this summer.