1886 US law dictates cruise calls?

An 1886 American maritime law requires cruise ships traveling between US ports to call on a foreign port or face fines of US $941 per passenger in 2023. In 2022, when the PVSA fine was US $873, a brief stop in Victoria allowed ships to avoid potential fines of up to USD $706,560,804. Last year 82% of cruise ship calls, representing 87% of total passenger capacity, used Victoria as a foreign stop.

2022 data based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel traffic data obtained from MarineTraffic, a global maritime analytics provider.

What is the Passenger Vessel Services Act?

An American maritime law passed in 1886 shapes the arrivals of the vast majority Victoria’s cruise calls. The Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) was created to protect the US ship-building industry and states that a passenger ship must be US built, flagged, owned, and crewed (thus required to pay US minimum wage and comply with US labor laws) to carry passengers directly between US ports. If a ship does not meet those requirements it must stop at a foreign port or be subject to a US$ 941 per-passenger penalty in 2023.

Victoria’s cruise season is reliant on Alaska cruises: most Alaska cruises start in Seattle and go directly to Alaska, so must make a foreign stop before returning to Seattle. All cruise ships that call in Victoria are foreign-built and foreign-flagged, so Victoria’s location makes it the perfect place for the required foreign stop.

How does the PVSA affect the number of ships that call in Victoria?

In 2022, 330 ships called in Victoria. 271 of those ships – 82% – stopped in Victoria, fulfilling the PVSA foreign-stop requirement – this was the only foreign stop on the itinerary. These ships generally arrived later in the day and stayed for a shorter period of time than ships that did not require a stop, thus bunching the majority of cruise ship calls into evening calls of under 5 hours.

How does the PVSA impact cruise ship schedules?

Cruise ships calling in Victoria for a PVSA stop generally arrive later and for a shorter amount of time than non-PVSA-required calls. In 2022, 57% of ships arrived between 6pm – 9pm, after most stores and attractions were closed. With an average stay of less than 5 hours, they represented 60% of last year’s annual cruise visitor capacity.

Multiple ships called at the same time, making evenings and late nights the busiest, noisiest time at Victoria Cruise Ship Terminal, which is located in a residential neighbourhood. In 2022, 65 % of ships departed between 11pm – 1am, with late night shuttle bus and taxi traffic streaming through narrow residential streets, and cruise ships sounding horns on departure.

How does the PVSA impact cruise tourist spending in Victoria?

In 2022, a majority of ships arrived after 6pm, with an average arrival time of 7:30pm. Since passengers need at least 45 minutes to disembark, and about 30 minutes to reach downtown Victoria, they arrived too late to sightsee, dine, shop, or tour, impacting local businesses and cruise passenger access to a wider range of daytime Victoria activities.

A 2022 study of the economic impact of Victoria’s 2019 cruise season, which followed a similar schedule, found that cruise tourist spending represented less than 2% of overall tourist spending in Greater Victoria.

Do all cruise lines stop in Victoria to avoid fines?

While the majority of calls here are required for ships to be PVSA-compliant, some ships make Victoria a genuine destination – non-PVSA required ship calls average stops of 12 hours. However, these tend to be smaller ships and represent a small percentage of total annual passenger capacity.