Passports for vaccination and precautionary Covid-19 tests have emerged as keys to help kick-start the recovery of the crippled €70m Irish cruise ship industry.

As Independent.ie writes, the revelation came as Irish ports admitted they do not expect the resumption of any cruise liner visits until after September – potentially not even before spring 2022.

Major cruise line operators including P&O, Saga and Virgin have now indicated that they intend to press ahead with cruise holidays in Europe this summer - but only for those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

However, cruise liner traffic at Irish ports including Dublin and Cork will be subject to Irish Covid-19 controls and travel restrictions.

Dublin and Cork have both warned cruise liner firms that, until Level Five restrictions are eased, they cannot accept cruise liner traffic.

There are now fears that a resumption of cruise liner visits from July may be pushed back until September - or even into early 2022 (see: Cork Beo's story on Disney call to both ports and Belfast in 2022).

More here on development affecting the Irish cruise sector.

As the newspaper also mentions,  just a single cruiseship visited Cork Harbour before the pandemic hit and the liner ban was imposed. 

Afloat adds that caller was Saga Sapphire which during that same 'farewell' cruise in March last year had previously visited Dublin Port.

This was referenced by Afloat's coverage of Belfast Harbour's only cruise caller with the first time call of Hurtigruten's newbuild hybrid expedition cruiseship MS Fridtjof Nansen.

#DUBLIN PORT-Cruise-passenger numbers in Dublin Port rose by 7.5% this year according to yesterdays' Irish Times.

During the 2011 cruise season, some 87 cruiseships brought over 135,000 passengers and crew to Dublin, delivering an estimated boost of between €35 and €55 million to the capital.

The port operator expects a similar number of cruise passengers next year. "Dublin Port's cruise season is becoming an increasingly important part of Dublin's tourism product," said chief executive Eamonn O'Reilly.

"Next year will see consolidation on our growth in recent years, while 2013 will see cruise line companies calling at Dublin for the first time and other operators bringing larger ships," he said.