A luxury cruise ship whose crew members were refused entry to New Zealand has returned to New Caledonia to refuel. Less than six days before scheduled sailings, 700 Kiwis are waiting to see if their tickets will be honoured.
The French flagged vessel, Le Lapérouse was refused entry to New Zealand waters on Friday after 61 out of the 90 foreign cruise workers were denied visas ahead of a season of planned domestic-only sailings.
"Le Lapérouse received approval late yesterday to proceed into Noumea this morning for refuelling," said Sarina Bratton, the Chairman for cruise company Ponant's Asia Pacific operations.
Since Friday the ship's operator Ponant said that it had been in discussions with Immigration New Zealand to find a solution to the impasse and plead the case for exemptions for the rest of the crew and hotel staff.
"Communications from New Zealand's Immigration Department today will determine what next steps, if any, are available to salvage our planned and approved operation in NZ this season."