Copenhagen Malmo Port (CMP), the Danish-Swedish port operator, is in talks with the provincial government of Gotland in Sweden to operate a cruise facility that the provincial government wants to build at Visby, the island's capital.
The number of cruise calls has more than halved to 64 in 2013 in the past few years as the size of ships cruising in the Baltic has increased. The present facilities in Visby are unable to receive most of these ships and as tendering is both cumbersome and subject to problems caused by weather, many lines have dropped the city that dates back to medieval times from their itineraries, said Arnt Moller Petersen, head of cruise operations and CMP.
The planned facility would be able to receive ships 350 metres in length and it would cost about SEK250 million to build. The Gotland government is expected to finalise the decision to build the facility in the next couple of months, while the board of CMP is due to seal an agreement to lease the facility for 20 years immediately afterwards, Petersen said at a presentation in Copenhagen.
"CMP will pay a leasing fee for the pier and receive all the income that it generates," he said, adding that the company is considering to add further cruise facilities to its portfolio. It currently operates extensive facilities in Copenhagen, where a new development with three terminals is due to open next month. In addition, it has one terminal received for cruise ships in Malmo across the Oresund on the Swedish side.