On 2 August 2016 the Commission recommended that before allowing cruise ships to use Tory Channel in future, the Chief Executive of the Marlborough District Council review its harbour risk assessment for the safe navigation of ships through Tory Channel, and in doing so consider the safe navigation of cruise ships through Tory Channel as a separate risk. The new risk assessment should consider, but not be limited to, the following factors:
- the limited number of piloted ships using Tory Channel make it difficult for harbour pilots to maintain currency
- cruise ship crews will not be familiar with Tory Channel
- harbour pilots will not necessarily be familiar with the manoeuvring characteristics and the navigation equipment of ships they are piloting
- there is only a short time available before transiting Tory Channel for a pilot and a ship’s crew to form a cohesive bridge team
- as well as the Tory Channel entrance itself, the remainder of Tory Channel is narrow, with significant Cook Strait passenger-ferry traffic. In order to help mitigate the risk of collisions between ships under pilotage and passenger ferries, pilots' passage plans would need to be aligned with those of the passenger ferries.