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Denmark's Fredericia receives its first cruise ship call

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 10 July 2014 10 July 2014

On august 7th 2014 the Royal Caribbean vessel Legend of the Seas visited Fredericia. It was the first cruise call to this new Danish cruise destination which already has six calls booked for 2015. The ADP cruise team has only visited the Cruise Shipping Miami convention twice, but the international cruise industry has already noted the unique location and attractions of this destination.

The port of Fredericia is Denmarks largest industrial port and is owned by ADP A/S which also owns two other industrial Danish ports. Fredericia Port has three dedicated cruise quays, of which the main quay has a water depth of 12 mtr. and an overall length of 350 mtr. The quays are easy to navigate, as sufficient deepwater turning basin with no restrictions allows the big cruise ships to turn and dock safely.

Cruise Business Manager in ADP, Gry Klok Thomsen, has worked hard the past year to develop this exiting new destination. The ship will dock only a few hundred meters for the city center, and the cruise guests will meet an authentic, historic town built originally as an extensive fortification in 1650, still with Northern Europe’s best- preserved ramparts. When calling Fredericia, Legend of the Seas was met with canon salut, live music, market square and many activities at the quay and a guide team will ensure that the guests have a very pleasant and eventful stay.

But not only ADP works hard on developing Destination Fredericia. The cooperation with the city of Fredericia ensures that the cruise guests will visit an openminded and friendly city and the cooperation with the surrounding attractions has resulted in a perfect variety of tours. The attractions also welcome cruise guests. Martin Aadal Nielsen, Sales Manager at LEGOLAND states "We are very happy that now also cruise guests have the opportunity to visit LEGOLAND in Billund. We are sure that many will take the short trip from Fredericia in order to have a fun and pleasant day in our amusement park."

When Legend of the Seas called on Fredericia, tours were organised for Royal Jelling (UNESCO), the original LEGOLAND in Billund, the house and museum of Hans Christian Andersen in Odense, the Renaissance castle Egeskov on the idyllic South Funen, which is announced by CNN to have one of the 12 best gardens in the world, the Royal castle Koldinghus and Ribe Vikings. These attractions lies within only an hours drive from Fredericia.

Only this summer the Wadden Sea National Park on the West Coast of Jutland was added to the UNESCO heritage list, Ribe also on the West Coast of southern Jutland has won the tittle of Europa’s Best Big-Time Small Destination 2014, and from 2015 the new attraction Bridge Walking will open only 10 minutes drive from Fredericia and here the guests can walk 57 metres above the water of Lillebælt on top of the old bridge between Jutland and Funen.

Cruise Fredericia is a brand new destination – find more information on www.cruisefredericia.com.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines return to Liverpool; Thomson and CMV will not

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 08 July 2014 08 July 2014

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ 880-guest ship Boudicca has commenced its second cruise season from Liverpool’s iconic Pier Head Cruise Terminal, with an eight-night sailing to the Norwegian fjords, the company said in a statement.

However, the number of turn around calls in the port appear to fall next year as Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV)that has operated from Liverpool for several years, has not scheduled turn arounds there in a 2015 programme that runs to the end of the summer. Thomson Cruises has decided not to operate from any UK port next year but to focus on fly cruises instead, which takes out another such operator.

On the other hand, Cunard Line will operate a liner voyage to Halifax and Boston in July 2015 to celebrate 175^th anniversary of the company.

Boudicca will arrive back in the city on 7 July 2014 and will then depart on a 14-night adventure cruise to Greenland and Iceland. In all, Fred. Olsen is offering 11 sailings from Liverpool in its 2014-15 cruise season, which is an increase on the 10 cruises that Boudicca undertook from the city last year.

Fred. Olsen is offering a variety of exciting worldwide itineraries from Liverpool in 2014, including a 16-night voyage to Norway 'In search of the Northern Lights', one of Nature's most spectacular phenomena, in November 2014, and a two-night Dublin mini-cruise in December 2014, to sample the famous Irish 'craic' in the run-up to Christmas.

Boudicca's 2014 cruise season in Liverpool will be interspersed with two calls in Belfast in August and two in Greenock (Glasgow) in September.

Fred. Olsen has one of the highest numbers of cruise calls into Liverpool’s Pier Head in 2014, and the cruise line is a long-standing supporter of the Merseyside region, returning to cruising from the city last year on Boudicca.

Nathan Philpot, Sales and Marketing Director for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said: "It is great to be back in Liverpool for our second cruise season on Boudicca, one of the most popular ships in our fleet. We were very encouraged by the commitment shown by our loyal guests in the Merseyside region last year, and we are offering even more cruises from this vibrant city in 2014. With its stunning vistas and proud maritime heritage, there is something very special about cruising from Liverpool, and it is a tremendous benefit to be able to offer our guests the chance to set sail from the world-famous Pier Head."

Requirements “out of control” to cruise in Canadian Arctic - AECO

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 08 July 2014 08 July 2014

More than 35 different Canadian authorities require more than 50 different applications and permits from cruise operators before they are allowed to visit Arctic Canada. This keeps cruise operators, visitors and economic activities away from Canada, said the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO)

The organisation said in a statement it had sent an open letter to Canadian stakeholders that are involved with permitting requirements for expedition cruise operators or involved with the political framework behind such requirements. “The intention of the letter was to express a concern with the unfortunate fact that the Canadian Arctic is considered one of the most cumbersome, expensive and problematic regions in the world in which expedition cruise operators conduct tourism activities.”

Canada, as a destination, has a great deal to offer tourists from all over the world and the expedition cruise operators would like to continue to bring guests and economic activity to Canada. But improved cooperation of the Canadian authorities is needed to make this possible.

“The list of permitting requirements for cruise operators in Arctic Canada seems to be ever-increasing. The illustrative list below includes 52 different permitting, licensing, clearance, inspection, review, certification, impact, registration and reporting requirements, which Arctic cruise operators might have to adhere to when operating in the Canadian Arctic. Canadian researcher Ph.D. Jackie Dawson, Canada Research Chair in Environment, Society and Policy and Assistant Professor at University of Ottawa is working on article with the premise, “This situation limits economic development and local entrepreneurship opportunities and essentially yet unintentionally undermines some of the work that is being conducted by the same institutions that are implementing the permits.”

The current state of affairs and difficulties in obtaining information is a serious concern to all operators. According to Hans Lagerweij, President and CEO of Canadian-based Quark Expeditions,“No Canadian body has been able to provide a complete list of requirements and/or a list of permitting authorities, so operators could easily oversee one or more requirements, which could result in a company unintentionally being non-compliant. This complete lack of clarity is a serious concern for all operators.” According to Lagerweij, one solution could be a central permitting body or office.

Frigg Jørgensen, Executive Director of AECO, believes that if this situation is not changed it will lead to a long-term loss of tourism and tourism related business for Canada. “As an organization representing Arctic expedition cruise operators, we strongly urge Canadian authorities to start a process in order to streamline the complex, time consuming, expensive and unclear permitting situation that is the reality in the Canadian Arctic today.” According to Jørgensen, the expedition cruise operators will—if things are not changed—continue to take their business elsewhere as they’ve done in the recent years. She hopes that the Canadian authorities will consult the industry to streamline and possibly even reduce the very high number of requirements and learn from other similar regions such as Greenland and Svalbard.

Responsible, environmentally friendly and safe expedition cruise operations

As an organization, AECO represents its members—approximately 40 international companies that operate almost 30 vessels in Svalbard, Greenland, Canada and the Russian Arctic. Besides a number of Canadian members, AECO has members who have been engaged in expedition cruise tourism in Arctic Canada and other Arctic regions since the 1980s. AECO is dedicated to ensure responsible, environmentally friendly and safe expedition cruise tourism all over the Arctic. The organization takes the complexities of polar ship operations very seriously and AECO members work diligently to ensure the utmost consideration for local cultures, flora, fauna and cultural artifacts. In order to accomplish this, AECO has developed a number of guidelines that regulate the members’ operations and visitor behavior.

Cruise passenger count fall of 13% seen in Adriatic region

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 08 July 2014 08 July 2014

There were more than 5.2 million cruise passenger movements in 2013 in the Adriatic and about 17 million ferry passengers, but the cruise sector appears to face a tougher times in 2014 than last year.

“For 2014 there is expected to be a reduction in cruise traffic in the area of 13% and a growth of 2.1% in ferry passengers, shows the 2014 edition of the Adriatic Sea Tourism Report, a publication dedicated to the analysis of maritime tourism movements in the Adriatic area that comprises cruise, ferry and boating activities.

The expected fall in cruise passenger numbers is in line with the decrease expected in the whole of the Mediterranean, mainly due to the fact that some ships have moved to other areas of the world cruise map. With regard to ferries the study contains an analysis of passenger movements and calls of more than 40 ports in the Adriatic.

As regards cruise traffic in the over 20 active ports in the Adriatic, in 2013 Venice topped the ranking with approximately 1.8 million passengers (or 34.8% of the total for the area) and 548 cruise calls (17.2% of the total), followed by Dubrovnik with slightly more than 1 million passenger movements (20.8% of the total) and 692 cruise calls (21.7% of the total) and Corfu, with about 744 thousand passenger movements and 480 cruise calls, or 14.3% and 15% respectively of the total registered.

The concentration of cruise traffic in the Adriatic area sees the top three ports moving about 70% of the total, a percentage that rises to 87.6% if the number of ports is extended to 5 and 97.7% if the top ten ports are taken into consideration.

British Virgin Islands Ports Authority secures funding for cruise pier expansion

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations; Published: 07 July 2014 07 July 2014

The Government of the Virgin Islands, through the British Virgin Islands Ports Authority (BVIPA), has secured $35 million for the Cruise Pier Expansion Project after closing with First Caribbean International Bank on Thursday afternoon.

The BVIPA Chairman Mr. Edward de Castro and Managing Director Mr. Claude O. Skelton Cline signed alongside Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE.

In addition to the senior public officials, BVIPA General Counsel Ms. Vareen Vanterpool, FCIB Interim Country Manager Mr. Valentine Fraser and Harneys’ Partner Mr. Johann E. Henry were also present.

Mr. Skelton-Cline said the Authority is pleased to accomplish another bench mark, thereby ensuring the project receives the necessary funding. The managing director said that coming to financial close secures the future of the project, which is progressing well. He added, “We also want to continue encouraging the public to take advantage of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which is designed to help them invest in the new development.”

The SPV offer is categorized by Class A Preference Shares (to be redeemed after seven years), Class B (to be redeemed after ten years) and Class C (to be redeemed after fifteen years). The different classes of shares will offer annual dividends or returns of 5.75-percent, 6.75-percent and 8.45-percent, respectively.

Mr. Skelton Cline said, “Persons would have already seen the fencing, the new staging area for taxis and some demolition works on the landside. On the marine side, they’re mobilising and stockpiling the armour stone, and general site setup. By mid August, cranes and other machinery will be in full effect.”

The Cruise Pier Expansion Project involves the extension, strengthening and widening of the existing cruise pier. It also includes the development of a boardwalk, further development and enhancement of the excursion dock facility, dredging and land reclamation.
The highlight of the project includes a 5-acre landside development which will feature commercial, retail, entertainment and green spaces.

The Cruise Pier Expansion Project is designed to create a unique and modern cruise pier facility that delivers a memorable, world-class and environmentally compatible sustainable development.

The BVI Ports Authority is responsible for the Territory’s cruise infrastructure and facilitates port calls.