Halifax longshoremen protest causes delays for tourism operators

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) protested the arrival of three cruise ships in Halifax Tuesday, holding up traffic along roadways near the Port of Halifax and the shipping container terminal.

A few dozen longshoremen held up traffic near Terminal Road and Hollis Street, stopping tour busses transporting cruise ship passengers for scheduled day trips to hotspots like Peggy’s Cove.

“If Pier 31 was available, we wouldn’t be in this position,” said Kevin Piper, ILA president.

Two cruise ships – the Celebrity Eclipse and the Norwegian Star – docked at the Port of Halifax, while the Emerald Princess was anchored near Georges Island.

This marked the first time a cruise ship was anchored in the harbour and the Emerald Princess resorted to using its own crew and boats to transport some of its 3,000 passengers to the dock at the Port of Halifax.

The ILA takes issue with that practice, suggesting it’s their job to tie up vessels that land at the Port of Halifax.

“We believe that’s our work,” said Piper, who represents 600 area longshoremen. “We’ve been responsible for tying up cruise ships in Halifax since cruise (ships) started to come to Halifax.”

Members of the Halifax International Longshoremen Association protest a new agreement that lets anchored cruise ships to tender and tie up their own passenger boats. (Source: Jesse Thomas/CTV News Atlantic)

The longshoremen say this is the first time they’ve seen a cruise ship anchored in the harbour.

“The Port Authority and the agent (FK Warren) have taken the position that they are going to use foreign crew members to tie the tenders up,” said Piper. “We believe they are infringing on our jurisdiction.”

Piper suggests there was other docking space the Emerald Princess could have used instead of anchoring in the harbour, which would have avoided the situation altogether.

“There’s a common user berth a Pier 31 that could have accepted that vessel,” said Piper. “But the container terminal and the Port Authority have come to an agreement that that is now PSA’s berth.”

Piper says going forward whenever three cruise ships arrive in Halifax, one will have to anchor and tender boats to transport passengers to land.

Members of the Halifax International Longshoremen Association protest a new agreement that lets anchored cruise ships to tender and tie up their own passenger boats. (Source: Jesse Thomas/CTV News Atlantic)

Piper believed they would be hired to do the tendering work and tying vessels when cruise ships are anchored in the Halifax harbour.

“We were notified in January that there would be some tendering,” said Piper. “We just took for granted that we would be doing the work. But within the last six-to-eight weeks it was abundantly clear that they weren’t going to be hiring us for that work.”

The protest caused delays and frustrations for cruise ship passenger looking to board a tour bus, as picketers targeted operators, holding them at the intersection for a few minutes before eventually allowing them to move on.

“It frustrating but I got to say our staff have kept good sense of humour and our guests as well, they are taking it in stride,” said Denis Campbell, CEO of Ambassatours Gray Line, which offers sightseeing tours.

Campbell said the picket caused delays and although they have no control over the cruise ship docking situation, they will continue to monitor the situation.

“Depending upon how much more we get delayed will determine if we have to cancel afternoon tours and disappoint guests,” said Campbell. “We really hope that won’t happen.”

The Halifax Port Authority declined an interview request with CTV News but in a statement they said cruise ship tendering arrangements are made between cruise lines and shipping agents.

“The Port of Halifax provides the space for the cruise ‘tender’ vessels to berth and monitors the arrival and departures,” said Lori MacLean, senior communications manager with the Port of Halifax. “Our goal is for cruise guests to have a safe and enjoyable visit in our city and province.”

It is expected there will almost a dozen more instances where three cruise ships make the call to Halifax at the same time this season, resulting in anchoring in the harbour.

Piper says the ILA wants to sit down with the Port Authority and the agent and come up with a solution going forward.

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