An idea for a breakwater located outside Dunmore East Harbour could provide shelter for cruise ships' anchorage calls, it has been suggested.
Last week, reports emerged that passengers of the cruise ship, Seven Seas Grandeur, were unable to disembark in Dunmore East as scheduled due to the weather conditions of the sea at the time.
The Regent Seven Seas Cruises vessel, which has a passenger capacity of 746 and a crew capacity of 548. This is small compared to considerably larger callers (as pictured above) to the anchorage at the mouth of the Waterford estuary, where 'in port' infrastructure was proposed back in 2019.
Local businesses that had prepared for the influx of tourists were left devastated and with no choice but to absorb the cost of their preparations with no return for their money.
The Munster Express spoke to Councillor Pat Fitzgerald about the situation.
“The passengers have to come ashore on tenders. With that southerly wind it can get rough out there, and it wouldn’t be suitable for the passengers,” Cllr. Fitzgerald said.
Cllr Fitzgerald went on to outline the impact such cancellations can have on Dunmore East and the wider area. “These little places depend on tourism,” he explained. “Bus operators, tour guides, even the local shops that might sell [ice-cream] cones or whatever to the crew on their few hours' break.
On the related topic of bus operators, coaches last week transferred passengers from another cruise ship at Cork Harbour, having cancelled a scheduled anchorage call off Dunmore East.
More coverage from the southern newspaper.
