Kiel – Germany’s leading cruise shipping port

With 114 cruise ship visits this year and more than 170,000 passengers, the port of Kiel is not only the most popular cruise shipping port in Germany, but also ranks equal first on the list of north European base ports alongside with Dover and Copenhagen. To keep this position over the coming years, the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) is on show at the Seatrade Europe – Cruise, Ferry and Rivercruise Convention in Hamburg, September 25-27, on Stand 213. Port of Kiel Managing Director, Dirk Claus, said “passenger exchange requires an efficient port infrastructure. Kiel is well prepared for future market requirements”. Central to the port’s Seatrade display, then, is the new Ostseekai Cruise Terminal, which has been outstanding this year, in its very first operating season.
With this EUR 30 million terminal, which is the port’s third cruise shipping facility, Kiel has created all the landside capacities it needs to continue to profit from future cruise market growth. The current development of cruise shipping, set against the growth in the average size of cruise ships, is breathtakingly dynamic. The cruise ships which called at Kiel in 1998 were on average of 15,000 GRT. Ten years later that average has more than doubled to 33,500 GRT. Commented Dirk Claus: “This growth development is a substantial challenge for ports. Infrastructure and logistics have to be suitably tailored to offer shipowners and passengers durable, first-class service”.
About two thirds of this season’s cruise ship calls in Kiel have involved the new Ostseekai Cruise Terminal. The most frequent callers were the ships of the big European shipping companies MSC and Costa. “Our customers said handling quality at the Ostseekai was very good”, said Dirk Claus. “In Kiel, we offer passengers a stress-free start to their holidays. Our accessibility, lots of space at the terminal and professional service with port, agency and owner working together, are the keys to success”, he said. In 2008 more, and bigger, cruise ships are booked to call at Kiel. If the trend continues, Kiel will be posting more than 150 calls a year by 2010.

Source:Transportweekly