Too dirty: cruise ship is not allowed to dock in New Zealand American justice charges Indian with attempted murder of Sikh activist

Finally a holiday and making the dream of traveling on the cruise ship come true – for the 2,600 passengers of the “P&O Pacific Adventure” this dream has become a nightmare. They had booked a tour of New Zealand and went on a tour instead. The reason: a dirty ship’s hull.

In fact, the New Zealanders did not allow the 290-meter ship, which was due to sail from Sydney, Australia, to the cities of Auckland and Wellington and the Fiordland National Park from November 20 to December 3, to enter their ports. As British daily “The Guardian” reports, the “P&O Pacific Adventure” failed due to the island nation’s strict biosecurity laws. The New Zealanders found that the hull of the ship was too overgrown with marine microorganisms, barnacles, mussels and algae. The experts call this biofouling.

What’s so bad about biofouling?

“A major danger of fouling is the spread of species,” underwater technology expert Benjamin Emde of the Hanover Laser Center told t-online. “For example, if a ship comes from Asia and brings foreign organisms into local waters, in the worst case scenario it could turn an ecosystem upside down.”

As reported in the British media, in the case of the “P&O Pacific Adventure”, a certain type of mussel and coral was the reason for the mooring ban. And because diving conditions were poor, the necessary cleaning of the hull could not be carried out.

“This was our honeymoon cruise”

For travelers on the ocean giant, the docking ban meant floundering in heavy seas for days, combined with severe nausea for many passengers. A traveler described the situation on Facebook:

Others expressed their anger: “My wife and I are on this shitty cruise to nowhere.” and «Why couldn’t they organize to clean the hull before departure? This was our honeymoon cruise to New Zealand.” Apparently native New Zealanders see things differently. One comment reads: “I’m glad they’re standing firm and not just letting them pollute our waters.”

According to the Facebook posts, the ship was diverted towards Tasmania after three days at sea and was allowed to dock in Hobart on Thursday. Now we continue to Port Arthur in the southeast of the island, which belongs to Australia.