Wave Break Island Cruise Terminal Feasible

A cruise ship terminal located on the eastern side of Australia’s Wave Break Island could be open in 2018 as part of the proposal to be submitted to the Queensland Government under the Gold Coast Integrated Resort and Cruise Ship Terminal process currently underway.

 “The Seaway can be safely navigated by modern ships in all tidal situations and in almost all weather conditions meaning the cruise ship terminal is feasible to build and operate,” said Tim Poole, Local Project Director.

The Gold Coast Cruise Ship Terminal will be a purpose built, open access terminal providing a stop over location for cruise ships and an embarkation facility for passengers including Gold Coast residents.It will not be a homeport and ships will not be fuelled on the Gold Coast. The terminal building will be a purpose built facility to support the movement of over 1500 passengers per hour including customs and immigration facilities, and a multi-functional space that can be used for events and other uses.

The project is targeting 75 ships or 150 movements per annum, which will bring 175,000 passengers to the Gold Coast annually. Financial analysis of the market and delivery costs undertaken by specialist consultants MacroPlan Dimasi and Davis Langdon indicates a market for the terminal on the Gold Coast.

Based on the navigation simulations undertaken, a cruise ship arriving at the Gold Coast terminal will require between 30 and 45 minutes for entering the seaway and berthing at the terminal, and a similar period when leaving the terminal.

For the majority of cruise ships (ranging from 290 metres to 360 metres in length), tugs will not be required. A pilot boat will be used to transfer a local marine pilot to assist the cruise ship captain ships to safely enter and exit the Seaway.

The project team also said that initial hydrodynamic investigations have indicated that impacts to water levels during ambient tidal conditions and one in one hundred year flooding events will be barely measurable, confirming that dredging of the Seaway will be required to create a safe shipping channel and swing basin for the cruise ships.

Dredged sand will be used to raise the elevation of the sand banks on the western side of Wave Break Island and the proposed Eco-Marine Park with any surplus volumes provided to the replenishment program for Gold Coast beaches.

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Press Release