The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) has announced the 58-metre extension to the Pier B mooring dolphin at the Victoria Cruise Terminal has received final review from the engineering team.
This signals the long-awaited completion of a project that the GVHA calls one of their “largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken.”
The project was initially planned to be finished in 2019, however, was delayed by one year when a large-diameter pile shipment, en route for Victoria from China, was lost at sea.
The steel shipment, worth millions of dollars, finally arrived in November of 2019 and the GVHA said since that point, “the construction period took six months and was on schedule and within budget.”
Over the course of construction, two 3-metre (10 foot) diameter coated steel monopolies, with a combined length of 291 m (954 feet) and weighing 96 metric tonnes, were placed into the seabed.
Two concrete platforms were then added on the surface.
Over its duration, more than 65 contractors, suppliers, engineering, and environmental teams were required to work on the project, according to the harbour authority.
The GVHA said the new dolphin extension will allow for cruise ships that are close to 350 metres long to safely moor in port when ship sailings resume along the West Coast.
When the new extension will see its first cruise ship, however, isn’t evidently clear.
The cruise season across the country is currently on hold as Transport Canada has restricted vessels until at least July 1, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of the Canadian restrictions, multiple cruise line companies have fully suspended operations on their own accord, including big names like Princess Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
Cruise ships have seen a lot of negative attention during the coronavirus pandemic as there have been multiple incidents of ships being stranded off-shore as passengers became infected.
With uncertainty surrounding the industry amid COVID-19, the GVHA said it’s continuing “to engage with all partners on the reintroduction of cruise to the region, which will come only through the guidance of health and federal officials.”
Numbers released from the GVHA suggest that the Victoria Cruise Terminal at The Breakwater District saw more than 700,000 passengers and 300,000 crew in 2019, including the inaugural call of the Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas, which will be one of the vessels to utilize the newly completed mooring dolphin once sailings resume.
Graham Cox
