Australia's biggest cruise group, Carnival Cruises, will no longer dock at Fremantle port after telling the state government the facilities were not up to scratch.
The loss means the number of cruises planned from Western Australia annually could drop from around 60 to as low as 17, costing the economy approximately $130 million a year.
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WA cruise ship crisis
WA is facing a cruise ship crisis with operators considering leaving the State, because our ports aren't up to scratch. Vision: Today Perth News.
Nine News Perth reporter Scott Cunningham said the lack of reliability at Fremantle port, as well as regional ports such as Exmouth, Broome and Geraldton, had led to Carnival pulling the plug on WA.
"The state government has blamed the former state government for not acting on this before," he said.
"Carnival Cruises has said that some of the issues [were] about land berthing... in recent years they haven't actually been able to stop [in Exmouth] when they were meant to."
City of Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt told Radio 6PR on Monday morning the port's facilities needed an upgrade, but its location south of the heart of town was also causing issues.
"This is potentially quite a blow, not just for Fremantle - I think Fremantle traders obviously really appreciate the 60-odd cruise ships we get in each year - but also the broader West Australian economy," he said.
"Every time you have a cruise ship in, it's not only Fremantle, it's the Swan Valley, it's Perth, it's all those kind of areas around that all benefit from that."
Mr Pettit said he was lobbying the new state government to upgrade South Quay by adding bars and restaurants to the area.
"At the moment [the port] just sits in a giant car park of roll-on, roll-off cars and fences and you couldn't imagine a less inviting way to arrive in fremantle and Western Australia," he said.
The City of Fremantle's proposal to redevelop the 15.7 hectare area, it claimed, would attract up to $3.5 billion in private investment and more than 3,700 jobs.
Two cruise ships are due dock at Fremantle Port in the next week, P&O;'s Pacific Eden and Princess Cruise's Dawn Princess.
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