There is little Port Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island) can do when hard winds prevent cruise ships from calling, according to port’s business development manager Corryn Clemence.
He confirmed that windy conditions were to blame for Holland America's ship ms Veendam 3 recent cancellations, which date back to August 23.
One of the cancellations came on September 26 when the presence of the ship would have resulted in impressive site of 4 different cruise vessels in port.
On that morning Veendam cruise ship was heading to Charlottetown when her captain chose not to proceed into harbour. The other cancellation came on October 4.
Corryn Clemence speculated speed restrictions, which in combination with wind conditions, might have played a part.
Two months ago, Transport Canada imposed temporary mandatory speed restriction for ships 20 metres or more to a max of 10 knots when sailling in the western Gulf of St Lawrence as well as a voluntary slowdown for ships under 20 meters, in response to the high number of right whale deaths in the Gulf.
However, October is a busy month at Port Charlottetown. Other days that feature 2 ships in port include October 11, 14, 22 and 23. The final cruise ship of the season visits Port Charlottetown on October 28.