After Two Years, Australia’s Ban on Cruise Ships Expires

In what might be the removal of the final roadblock to a return to full international tourism, Australia’s two-year ban on cruise ships expires today, Sunday, April 17.

The country had prohibited foreign vessels from entering its ports since March of 2020, shortly after the coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. Australia had been one of the nations affected by a mass outbreak of COVID-19 that originated on a cruise ship, in this case the Ruby Princess, leading to some of the most restrictive travel rules put into place by any nation.

It was only a month ago that the first tourists set foot in Australia in almost two years after the Australian government took a more pragmatic approach to living with COVID-19 instead of trying to fully prevent it.

Those two years came at a price, however. According to Bloomberg News, citing data from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the ban on cruise ships cost the Australian economy more than $7 billion over two years.

“(Cruise lines) are preparing for a carefully managed resumption of operations in a sector that previously supported more than 18,000 Australian jobs,” CLIA said in a statement.

There are still details to work out. It is unknown if there will be a limit to capacity on ships docking at Australian ports, but it is known that all crew and passengers on ships arriving in Australia must be vaccinated. There is also expected to be face masks and testing protocols.

P&O Cruises’ Pacific Explorer was expected to be one of the first ships to dock in Sydney on Monday as it prepares to resume a full schedule next month.