(7/11/2011)
Beritabali.com reports that a planned visit by 1,950-passenger cruise ship Sun Princess to the East Bali Tanah Ampo International Cruise Terminal was aborted on Saturday, July 9, 2011.
Instead, the ship headed for the southern port of Benoa. The reason for the diversion remains unclear, but Balidiscovery.com reported [See: What’s Up, Dock?] that the troubled Tanah Ampo International Cruise Terminal lost its passenger pontoon due to rough seas in late June and was hurriedly trying to construct a new pontoon in time for coming ships' visits.
Quoted by Beritabali.com, Ketut Sidia Yasa of Destination Asia - the local agent handling the ship’s visit, said: “This ship was indeed scheduled to make port at Tanah Ampo in Karangasem, but I don't know what factor changed the crews mind, but in the end they came to the port of Benoa. The ship only visited for one day after visiting a number of countries in Asia.”
Meanwhile the general manager of PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III (Pelindo-III), Iwan Sabatani, confirmed the last minute shift in port-of-call from Tanah Ampo to Benoa.
Sabatani said that after the Carnival Cruise team inspected both Tanah Ampo and Benoa, they eventually opted to bring the ship to Benoa. “We had earlier made all preparations at the pier at Tanah Ampo. But the team from Carnival decided to call at Benoa,” he explained.
Sabatani added, “once again, the decision to call at Benoa was the decision of the Carnival team.”
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