Cruise Ship Anchorages

Technical Information Sheet #18

Published 2002

This page contains background and history of the Representative Areas Program.

View current Zoning information.

Cruise Ship Anchorage Areas in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is implementing the Representative Areas Program to help ensure better protection of the Marine Park�s biodiversity. This will involve a review of the existing zoning throughout the Marine Park. This information sheet is part of a package of materials that help explain various elements of the Representative Areas Program and the zoning review.

The information sheet outlines the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's (GBRMPA) proposed reef-wide zoning approach to Cruise Ship Anchorage Areas (CSAA) within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (the Marine Park).

All cruise ship operations are required to obtain a permit from the GBRMPA to operate in the Marine Park Prior to the commencement of the revised Far Northern Section Zoning Plan in 2002, cruise ship access to the GBRMP, including the Far Northern Section (FNS), was controlled though a combination of permits, Regulations and plans of management.

The revised FNS Zoning Plan introduced CSAA as a management concept. CSAA are areas that have been assessed by the GBRMPA as suitable locations for the regular anchoring or mooring of cruise ships.

Within the Remote Natural Area in the revised FNS Zoning Plan, the GBRMPA must not grant a permit for anchoring or mooring a cruise ship, except in a designated CSAA.

Eleven CSSAs have now been designated in the FNS. However a number of issues arose in the designation of these CSAAs including:

Difficulties in designation under the provisions of the revised FNS Zoning Plan;
Intensive demands on resources; and
Inflexible outcomes.

Proposed management framework

The GBRMPA believes that cruise ship anchoring and mooring will be more effectively managed through the permitting process with supporting policy, site plans and Regulations, as appropriate. Accordingly, the designation process used in the FNS will not be applied on a reef-wide basis.

Current policies on cruise ships and designating anchorages will be reviewed by the GBRMPA.

The GBRMPA will facilitate discussions between the cruise ship industry and key stakeholders to develop a code of conduct for cruise ship anchorages within the Marine Park. This Code of Conduct would aim to promote environmentally, socially and culturally responsible behaviour.