Cruise ships

Cruise ships visit four harbours across our region:

Lyttelton and Timaru, where they berth alongside wharves in the port
Akaroa and Kaikōura, where they anchor and transfer passengers ashore with their tenders.

Since the new cruise berth in Waitaha/Canterbury began operations, most cruise ships have visited Lyttelton. Timaru has also seen an increase in visits.

However, Akaroa has experienced a significant decrease in cruise ship visits, dropping from a peak in the mid-90s per season before COVID-19 to the mid-teens now. This decline is attributed mostly to the cruise berth at Lyttelton entering operation and partly to restrictions on vessel size and visit numbers through environmental concerns, informed by improved seabed disturbance studies following public concerns.

Visits to Kaikōura have returned to pre-COVID numbers averaging mid-teens per season.

Key functions and responsibilities

Operational key functions of the Harbourmaster’s Office include:

contacting cruise ships before they enter the harbour to discuss weather conditions and determine if they meet operating parameters
granting permission to enter and specifying approved anchorage sites
meeting with agents to address any requirements or issues
updating vessels on harbour conditions before arrival and monitoring navigation safety requirements
monitoring tender operations, ensuring fair use of the wharf and noting movements
maintaining ongoing communication with cruise ships to address issues promptly
granting permission for vessels to depart if operational conditions permit.

On cruise ship days, the Harbourmaster's Office also:

monitors navigation safety under a warrant from Environment Canterbury
oversees access to and from the wharf under a warrant from Christchurch City Council's Marine, River and Lake Facilities Bylaw.
advising ships regarding entry into the harbour, maintaining lead lights, and monitoring vessels both remotely and on-site
checking safety management systems to ensure compliance with all procedures and requirements.

Responsibilities for facilities

Christchurch City Council owns and operates the Akaroa wharves and jetties and is also responsible for:

the public toilet and local parks
rubbish removal
issuing temporary traffic management plans (required when activities vary from the normal operations on a road)
and managing commercial operators on Council land and facilities.

Cruise ship scheduling

Cruise ship operators, through their shipping agents, typically request access to wharf and harbour facilities well in advance, sometimes up to two years ahead of time.

In Akaroa, this process includes:

Seeking approval from the Harbourmaster's Office for access to Akaroa Harbour, which is only denied in cases of navigation safety concerns, unavailability of a suitable anchorage, or the vessel exceeding size limits.
Applying to the Christchurch City Council for access to the Akaroa wharf, which may be refused if the wharf's capacity is exceeded.

On rare occasions, cruise ship visits have been declined due to limited wharf access or anchorage availability.

Each cruise company independently schedules their ships, each with its itinerary, occasionally resulting in overlapping visits.

Multiple ships of varying sizes visiting the harbour simultaneously on the same day is very uncommon within the broader cruise season context.

View the New Zealand Cruise Association cruise schedules 2025/26 for all NZ ports and harbours.

Impact of cruise ships

Cruise ships can significantly impact marine environments through noise pollution, seabed disturbance, and air pollution. These effects pose risks to marine life, disrupt ecosystems, and contribute to air quality concerns, requiring careful management and regulation to mitigate their environmental footprint.

Noise

We manage noise in Akaroa Harbour as detailed in the Regional Coastal Environmental Plan Rule 8.21(d).

Cruise ships generally anchor in Akaroa Harbour during daylight hours meaning they need to ensure their noise emissions do not exceed 85 dBA at any point on land outside the Coastal Marine Area between 7am and 10pm.

The measurement point applicable for noise sources outside the port areas is the boundary of the Coastal Marine Area. Generally speaking, the boundary of the Coastal Marine Area is approximately the high tide line.

There are a handful of exemptions regarding noise emissions under Rule 8.21(f) of the Regional Coastal Environmental Plan, the most likely to apply to cruise ships include:

the normal operation of navigational aids
safety signals
warning devices, including ship sirens
pressure relief valves.

Seabed disturbance

Ships may disturb the seabed by using their propulsion equipment, thrusters, and anchors.

This may produce discoloured water near a ship, similar to the discolouration seen during periods of rough weather.

The use of propulsion equipment, thrusters, and anchors is allowed as part of maritime law.

The Resource Management (Marine Pollution) Regulations 1998 applies. Schedule 4, section 15, describes "ship propulsion" as part of the "normal operations" of the ship.

Discussions with cruise ship operators secured an agreement that the use of thrusters will continue to be minimised in Akaroa. We believe anchoring is preferable to the use of thrusters, where possible.

Further discussions are underway with cruise ship companies around how they can further minimise their environmental impacts. We continue to study and review cruise ship activity in Akaroa Harbour.

Seabed disturbance study

A report was commissioned from the Cawthron Institute regarding cruise ships disturbing the seabed and water quality degradation in Akaroa Harbour. It sought to establish what possible effects, if any, may be caused by the operation of cruise ships in Akaroa Harbour.

Download the report: Environmental Risk Assessment - Akaroa Harbour cruise ships (PDF file, 18.45MB)

Cruise ship impact assessment

After the 2011 earthquakes, Lyttelton port’s ability to host cruise ships became severely limited so traffic was diverted to Akaroa Harbour instead.

Work began in 2018 on the Lyttelton Cruise Berth to allow ships to re-enter Lyttelton Harbour, and the berth was opened in November 2020.

Cruise ships can now dock in Lyttelton, but continue to visit Akaroa in reduced numbers.

Impacts of cruise ship in Akaroa

Akaroa locals raised concerns about the impact the high numbers of cruise ships coming into the area in peak season may have on the marine environment.

Our first response was to limit thruster use by ships at anchor to reduce seabed disturbance.

In 2019, we tasked the Cawthron Institute to compile a preliminary risk assessment on the potential effects on the marine environment. This led to:

some anchorages being closed and from 1 November 2021
a size restriction under 260m in length for ships coming into Akaroa Harbour
larger ships need consent to enter.

Seabed mapping

2021 survey

As part of the Iongairo project, a bathymetric survey was undertaken in the harbour in 2021, which provided cross-sections and visual representations of disturbance to the seabed at each anchorage.

Using information from the survey, we determined the disturbance caused to the seabed from the anchoring of cruise ships exceeded permitted limits under the Regional Coastal Environment Plan.

This resulted in the closure of a further anchorage and a limit on ship length of 200m.

Media release | 17 December 2021: Beneath the surface – Banks Peninsula seabed mapping

2023 survey

A repeat survey of the open and closed anchorages in Akaroa was undertaken by Southern Hydrographic in 2023.

Media release | 31 January 2023: Iongairo: Partnership makes waves in mapping the seafloor

An additional survey is planned for 2024. This will help us determine the rate of physical recovery of the closed anchorages and inform future operational decisions.

Air pollution

Maritime NZ is the agency responsible for the monitoring and enforcement of ships’ emissions to air in New Zealand. For any events observed in Canterbury, the Harbourmaster’s Office will pass on observations of potential rule breaches to MNZ.

Lyttelton Port Company is responsible for communicating with shipping agents and shipping managers over discharge to air and for monitoring and complying with their own consent conditions. Note that discharges to air relate to matters like dust from cargo handling, not ships’ exhaust.

Read the full requirements for ships navigating within the Canterbury region (PDF File, 43.73KB).

Environmental and safety regulations

New Zealand’s marine environment is protected through regulations, standards, legislation, and international conventions, all contributing to the global effort to combat marine pollution.