Ports & destinations

$55 million to enhance cruise ship greeting operations at Québec and Montréal

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 30 March 2015 30 March 2015

Cruise the Saint Lawrence (CSL) welcomes the announcement of a $55 million investment by the Government of Québec, as set out in the 2015-2016 budget, for passenger greeting infrastructure projects at the ports of Québec ($35 million) and Montréal ($20 million).

"This announcement represents a crucial step in efforts devoted to secure funding and we greatly appreciate the support provided by the Government of Québec," stated Tony Boemi, President of Cruise the Saint Lawrence and Vice-President, Growth and Development at the Port of Montréal. "As our Saint Lawrence ports of call pursue their ambitious goal of providing the best welcome in the world, readers will understand that the cruise experience begins and ends at one or other of our primary gateways to the Saint Lawrence, namely the ports of Québec and Montréal."

Development projects at these two ports of embarkation and disembarkation are key to our being able to support exceptional growth in international cruises in Québec.
In 2015, Destination Saint Lawrence will welcome over 275 000 passengers and 100 000 crew members to our shores, more than double the number of passengers welcomed in 2008. Success of this order requires that we upgrade infrastructure to better provide for ever increasing traffic, while enhancing the overall cruise experience. For this reason, the Port of Montréal seeks to restore both Alexandra Pier and the marine passenger terminal. Commitment by the Government of Québec in this regard is important for seeing plans through to completion. Similarly, at the Port of Québec, greeting infrastructure has been revisited and tailored to better satisfy the requisites of demand.

Destination Saint Lawrence includes nine (9) ports of call designed and poised to handle cruise ship traffic, namely Montréal, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Saguenay, Baie-Comeau, Sept-Îles, Havre Saint-Pierre, Gaspésie and the Magdalen Islands.

Cruise the Saint Lawrence groups together partners committed to the promotion and development of the Saint Lawrence River. The association receives financial support from Economic Development Canada, Tourism Québec and industry partners. The mission of the organization is to position Destination Saint Lawrence with cruise companies by defining and coordinating development efforts and partner/port of call attributes, the ultimate aim being to build a genuine ‘Cruise the Saint Lawrence’ brand.

Carnival Liberty is first ship to berth at Tortola's newly renovated pier

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 30 March 2015 30 March 2015

On Saturday, March 28, Carnival Liberty became the very first ship to berth at the newly renovated pier. The ship docked alongside the north eastern berth, which was completed a few weeks ago. Work continues to have the entire pier ready in time for the official opening on April 29, when the BVI will host Norwegian’s Getaway, one of the larger classes of ships now on stream. At present, the pier has been lengthened to 1,039 feet, with mooring dolphins adding 273 feet, giving a total of 1,312 feet of berthing space. Once completed, the pier will be 60 feet wide, and will accommodate two ships of 180,000 gross registered tonnage.

Hamburg prepares for growth of cruise industry

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 18 March 2015 18 March 2015

Hamburg Cruise Center that operates two and soon three cruise terminals in the German port city, prepares for growth of the cruise industry in the city.

MSC Cruises will be positioning MSC Splendida for Northern European cruises in Hamburg throughout the summer. Italian cruise operator Costa Crociere will offer ten departures on three routes for 2015, and Cunard Line will continue voyages with its Queen Mary 2 from Hamburg to New York in June, August and September. This year, AIDA Cruises will once again have the greatest presence of all cruise lines in Hamburg: five AIDA cruise ships will be calling at the port of Hamburg 55 times

The rapid development of Hamburg’s cruise industry has increased the shipping companies’ demand for higher passenger-handling capacity. Therefore, the city is currently building a third terminal in Steinwerder in addition to the locations in the HafenCity Hamburg and Altona. The Hamburg Cruise Center Steinwerder is being built on a surface area the size of about two football fields.

Following its commissioning in June 2015, as many as 8,000 passengers per arrival will be handled at the new terminal. To ensure smooth baggage transportation, the terminal will feature separate entry and exit areas. While passengers will depart through the eastern building, new passengers will be boarded at the same time through the western building.

In 2015, Hamburg is also setting the bar in terms of technology and environmental protection: in the upcoming season, the LNG Hybrid Barge “Hummel” will be in regular use, supplying the ocean liners with electricity. Furthermore, the landside power plant for the Cruise Terminal Hamburg-Altona will be put into operation in 2015.

MedCruise presents its 2015 Statistics Report

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 20 March 2015 20 March 2015

MedCruise presented to the cruise world gathered in Miami the 2015 edition of the MedCruise Statistical Report covering in detail the cruise activities in MedCruise Ports during 2014.

The presentation took place during Cruise Shipping Miami 2015, at the MedCruise booth, and was followed by a welcome reception open to visitors of the event.

The report is based on the annual cruise traffic data of 72 MedCruise port members representing over 80% of the total cruise passenger movements in Mediterranean in 2014.

MedCruise President Carla Salvadό noted that in 2014 MedCruise ports welcomed 25,8 million cruise passenger movements and more than 13.700 cruise calls. This means that the number of passenger movements in the Med and its adjoining seas in 2014 stands at 4,8% more than in 2010.

Carla Salvadό emphasized that the scale of cruise passengers has exceeded 25 million movements per year every single year since 2011.

Yet, a volatility of the total passenger movements on a year per year basis sustains. A 7% decrease of passenger movements was registered comparing to 2013, which formed the record year in terms of cruise passenger movements in the region since 2000.

MedCruise President concluded that the challenge for Mediterranean ports, destinations and all stakeholders is to work collectively in order to provide all those conditions that create the background for future growth.

The report entitled ‘Cruise activities in MedCruise Ports: Statistics 2014’ was produced by the MedCruise Secretariat.

It includes a detailed analysis of cruise activities hosted in the Mediterranean region and its adjoining seas in 2014, comparing the data with the immediate previous year and presenting an analysis of developments in the region during the last five years.

Marginal fall in cruise traffics in the Baltic

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 16 March 2015 16 March 2015

Based on its Baltic Market Review 2015, Cruise Baltic reported a “varying growth rates” in the region. Alan Lam reports from Miami.

The review, conducted amongst the 28 Cruise Baltic destinations plus St. Petersburg, Kiel and Riga, summarizes the 2014 results and forecasts for 2015.

Collectively, for 2014, Cruise Baltic partner ports suffered a 1.8% decrease in passenger numbers and 5.3% fall in cruise calls, as compared to the previous year. However the total number of turnarounds has increase by 1.7%.

Looking at it from a wider perspective, since 2000, the number of cruise passengers visiting the region has increased by an average of 10.3% per annum, from 1.1 million in 2000 to nearly 4.3 million in 2014; the number of calls increased by an average annual rate of 3.3% for the same period, from 1,533 to 2,418; and the number of turnarounds increased by an average annual rate of 7.6%, from 106 to 416.

In 2014, among the top five ports of the region, only Rostock saw growth of 5.4%, to 509,000 passengers; Tallinn suffered a decrease of 7.8% to 479,000; Stockholm has decreased by 3.2% to 470,000; and Copenhagen, the largest port in terms of passenger throughput, has decreased by 7.7% to 739,000.

The number of calls in 2014 decreased in all top five ports: Tallinn decreased by10%, Copenhagen by 9.8%, Helsinki by 7.4%, St. Petersburg by 6% and Stockholm by 5.4%.

Copenhagen continued to be the largest turnaround port, with 129. Rostock was the only destination that experienced a major growth of 65%, from 60 to 99.

Among the large segment of Baltic ports - comprising Rostock, Oslo, Kiel, Kristiansand, Gothenburg, Klaipeda, Riga, Visby and Gdynia – growth has continued at 4%, from 1,530,688 passengers in 2013 to 1,591,361 in 2014.

In the medium segment - comprising Gdansk and Ronne – an increase of 11.6% has been achieved with 45,815 passengers compared to 41,070 in 2013. In this regard, Gdansk has experienced the strongest growth with 42.5%.

Gothenburg and Klaipeda moved from medium to the large segment, on account of an increase of the number of calls: Gothenburg moved from 39 in 2013 to 73 in 2014 and Klaipeda moved from 40 to 63 in the same period.

Overall the passenger figure in the small segment has decreased by 16.3%, with great variation within the group, thus contributing to the overall fall in traffics.

The falling trend is expected to continue in 2015. A 1.6% fall in passenger number, 4.5% further fall in calls, and 5% fall in turnarounds are expected. The top five ports will experience a 1.1% fall in passenger numbers; but the smaller ports are expected to experience a 45% increase in passenger traffic because of higher numbers of calls expected.

“As a region we are aware of the potentially negative impact of the new ECA environmental regulations,” said Claus Bødker, Cruise Baltic Director, “which have come into effect as of 1 January this year; however, because the Baltic Sea is a strong product with significant customer demand, that is why there is only a marginal decrease in passenger numbers for 2015. I believe the 2014 figures established in this review represent a realistic reflection of the current cruise industry marketplace.”

Cruisebusiness.com