“In addition to the Pacific Eden making Exmouth a major destination on its Western Australia voyages, three new cruise lines will call in 2017 – Silver Sea, Phoenix Reisen and Holland America,” said Ben Knaggs of the Exmouth Visitor Centre.

Knaggs said the lack of suitable all-weather docking facilities has been hampering growth, but plans are underway to construct a purpose-built cruise ship dock.

“The Shire of Exmouth’s preferred solution to this problem is to construct a new deep-water wharf within the Exmouth Gulf. A site just south of the Exmouth Boat Harbor has been identified and partial funding has been secured, so the Shire is hopeful that this facility will come into being within a matter of years,” said Knaggs.