Two cruise ships have been diverted away from Brisbane as Cyclone Alfred moves towards the Queensland coast.
In an afternoon update today, the Premier of Queensland, David Crisafulli, mentioned that out of the three cruise ships currently located off the coast of the state, one will be arriving in Brisbane, while the other two are in search of a different port.
“We are assisting them,” Crisafulli said.
“I have just received new information within the last few minutes: two of these ships are exploring alternatives for ports and we will be providing them with assistance in finding suitable options,” Crisafulli stated.
“One will be endeavouring to come into the Port of Brisbane and offloading those passengers.
“We will do everything we can to assist them in that regard as well as those other two.”
The next three cruise ships scheduled to dock at the Port of Brisbane are the Queen Anne (arriving today), the Pacific Encounter (arriving tomorrow), and the Norwegian Sun (arriving on Wednesday).
Ship tracking data shows the first two are currently just off the Queensland coast – the Queen Anne near Gladstone, a few hundred kilometres north of Brisbane, and the Pacific Encounter east of the Gold Coast.
Norwegian Sea is further afield, currently in the Coral Sea south of New Caledonia.