Alaska senator threatens to halt cruise ships from coming to B.C.

Friday brings another threat by the United States on Canada.

This time, Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan wants to take legal action to prevent cruise ships from stopping at British Columbia ports, permanently.

He says this is in response to Premier David Eby’s recent announcement that commercial trucks travelling through B.C. from Washington and up to Alaska will be forced to pay new fees. That was in response to the ongoing trade war with the White House.

Sullivan that says if he can’t get legislation through, he’ll push for an executive order.

“Two can play this game,” he told 650-KENI, a local radio station in Alaska. “So, Canada, you don’t want to mess with Alaska. If you do, we’re going to work hard on having our cruise ships bypass your ports, and that’ll help our economy tremendously.”

“It’ll help our tourism industry tremendously, and it’ll really hurt their tourism. They’re playing a dangerous game here. I hope they back down,” he said.

He went on to say the legislation would “take billions of dollars” of tourism revenue away from western Canadian provinces.

The last time cruise ships were diverted from B.C. ports was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to help stop the spread of the virus.

“The next year, we were getting ready to open up our tourism sector, and the Canadians wouldn’t give us a waiver on the ability for cruise ships to stop there. They said they couldn’t. I called a number of Canadian leaders saying, ‘Come on, guys, we helped you during your time of need. We just need a little waiver here.’ They wouldn’t provide it. Then they kind of made fun of us, saying, ‘Congress can’t pass a law of waive.’ Well, guess what? We did. We passed a law saying that, and Canada lost hundreds of millions in revenues,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan cites the Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA), which bans foreign cruise ships from transporting passengers between two U.S. ports without stopping at a foreign port; in this case, those are ports in B.C. This was signed into law in 1886, and that’s what Sullivan wants to circumvent.

The legislation is often discussed in conjunction with The Jones Act, otherwise known as the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, which is similar. The latter was designed predominantly for cargo ships but applies to cruises as well.

Senator’s comments concerning, local ports say

The Port of Vancouver says the comments made by Sullivan are concerning, and it’s keeping an eye on the situation.

“It is important to remember that the Canada Place cruise terminal is an established homeport where cruise lines base their ships for the Alaska season, rather than a port they briefly visit while en route to Alaska. Vancouver has been a premier homeport for Alaskan cruises for almost 40 years now, acting as the homebase for one-way and round-trip cruises,” it said in a statement to 1130 NewsRadio.

“We believe that Vancouver’s cruise operations – which are typically scheduled years in advance – have a crucial role to play supporting Alaskan tourism and businesses, offering a fully serviced homeport and one-of-a-kind itinerary that is popular with both cruise lines and their passengers,” it added.

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority echoed the sentiment from the Port of Vancouver.

“There is a strong connection between the Alaskan cruise industry and the entire Pacific Northwest, including Victoria. Greater Victoria Harbour Authority continues to closely monitor the political situation and to actively promote stability in the cruise industry. There are 320 cruise ships scheduled to visit Victoria in 2025, and we will provide a warm welcome to every cruise ship passenger. There is a long history of Victoria welcoming travellers from countries around the world, and that will continue,” it stated to 1130 NewsRadio.

The Ministry of Transportation says the B.C. government “values” its relationship with Alaska. It adds the premier spoke with the governor two weeks ago about the “strong connections” the two jurisdictions have.

“To be very clear — the legislation does not impose fees on Alaska-bound trucks. It just gives B.C. the tools to do so down the road if Trump continues to escalate his threats towards B.C. and Canada,” a statement to 1130 NewsRadio said. “This is not something British Columbia wants to do, but we need to have this tool if the U.S. does not back away from their unjust tariffs.”

It hopes the U.S. will back off their threats.

“We know that people want to experience British Columbia cities as part of their cruise experience. The hope is that B.C. would never need to charge fees because the U.S. will reverse its position on tariffs.”

The local cruise ship season got underway earlier this month, and more than 300 vessels are scheduled to stop here, transporting roughly 1.2 million passengers. B.C.’s cruise ship industry employs thousands of people and brings in billions of dollars to both the local and national economies.