Viking cancels two Newcastle port calls due to environmental protests – city set to lose $800,000

• Viking has cancelled two scheduled port stops in Newcastle, on November 24 and 29.
• The stops were cancelled due to planned environmental protests from November 25 to December 2.
• The protest groups say they had no plans to stop cruise ships, but the authorities described this as shifting the blame from their actions.

Due to planned environmental protests, Viking has cancelled two port calls to Newcastle which were set to bring up to $800,000 of tourism spending to the coastal city. Viking Orion was set to arrive on November 24 and Viking Venus on November 29, but both calls have been cancelled.

The protest in question is planned by environmentalist group Rising Tide, who is known to organise blockades and protests against the coal ships that come into Newcastle Harbour. 

Last week the group made headlines by spray painting ‘tax me’ onto the side of a coal ship.

They are currently scheduling a protest called ‘The People’s Blockade’ which will run from November 25 to December 2. Viking Orion’s planned visit was actually before this period, but the cruise line clearly wasn’t looking to take any risks.

Hunter Business Chamber chief executive Bob Hawes told The Daily Telegraph that the cancelled sailings would amount to $800,000 in lost revenue. 

“That’s a direct injection into the local economy, and … sometimes those impacts are very local.”

The protest groups claim no responsibility for the ships cancelling, as it says it has never had any intentions of affecting cruise ships. However, authorities take a different line, saying that the move clearly ‘spooked’ the tourism industry, and the group shouldn’t evade responsibility for their actions. 

Rising Tide spokesperson Zach Schofield said the group has been very public in assuring that it only blocks coal shipping, and does not have any interest in blocking cruise lines.

Schofield said: “To do so would be not only strategic suicide for us, but entirely at odds with the aims and politics of Rising Tide.

“We call in the strongest possible terms for the Port of Newcastle to take active steps in securing the return of the Viking Venus and Orion, and stop political point-scoring at the expense of Hunter businesses”.

The organisation’s web page states its mission is based around coal being exported out of the Port of Newcastle, with its explicit goal being to end coal exports out of Newcastle by 2030.

Port of Newcastle executive manager of corporate affairs Lucas Coleman says he does not trust these assurances and understands why the cruise ships felt they had to cancel.

“In fairness, it was a surprise that the Monday vessel [Viking Orion] did cancel.

“It was more understandable that the Viking Venus was cancelled, given that it was on a protest day. However, I do understand it is a passenger vessel and they need to be concerned about their onboard passengers and their experience.

“They continue to give assurances that all these other vessels would come through, and our response to that would be, you gave assurances last year to the lord mayor that you would not enter the shipping channel if you were allowed to utilise council land. They entered the shipping channel.”

Schofield said he would be willing to put into writing that the group would not disturb a cruise vessel.

He said in an email to Viking: “I am uncertain what has been communicated to Viking as to the potential risk of disruption to your vessel – I am also uncertain of how I can make our promise any more iron-clad, but would be willing to sign a statutory declaration to the extent that we will never disrupt a cruise vessel.

“To do so would clearly be strategic suicide, as Rising Tide would categorically lose the support of the Newcastle community (which independent polling suggests an approval rate of around 66%) that we have worked so hard to build.

“We do not intend to accept responsibility for this loss.”

Police Minister Yasmni Catley views this as shifting the blame.

She said: “It’s extraordinary that Rising Tide is now trying to shift the blame for the chaos they’ve created.

“They organise a protest designed to disrupt the port, spook the tourism sector, and cost local jobs and then expect someone else to clean up the mess.”

Newcastle doesn’t see a high volume of cruise ships, the next ship scheduled to visit is Celebrity Edge on December 13, and The World on December 19. After that, the next ship is another scheduled visit of Viking Venus, on February 23, 2026.

Cruise Passenger has contacted Viking for comment.