Last week, the Port of Seattle canceled its cruise ship season indefinitely until COVID-19 concerns diminish.
The closure of Seattle’s port reduced sailing capacity to Haines by another 3,000 passengers, Haines tourism director Steven Auch said. The sailing capacity for Haines had been roughly 36,500 before the spread of COVID-19.
In recent weeks, several ports and cruise lines have postponed the start of cruise ship season.
For Haines, the bulk of the season had already been pushed back after Canada announced the closure of its ports to cruise ships carrying over 500 people until July 1. Due to a provision in the U.S. Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, ships flying international flags cannot sail directly between U.S. ports. They must stop in a foreign port.
Vancouver is a common choice for sailings to Alaska. Since most of the larger cruise ships visiting Haines fly foreign flags, until Canada lifts its port closure, Haines is unlikely to see many vessels, Auch said.
The 2020 cruise ship sailing schedule has been removed from the “Visit Haines” website and is currently being updated. Auch said he is waiting on information from a number of sources including Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska and individual companies before he will be able to release a new version. At press time, the new schedule had not been released.