AIDA and Unikai strengthen Hamburg as cruise location

AIDA Cruises and Unikai have set up a joint operating company for Hamburg’s cruise terminals. From the 2009 season, they will run the two cruise terminals in the Elbe metropolis through the new venture HCC Hanseatic Cruise Centers GmbH.
From the start of this season AIDA Cruises and Unikai will be operating the two Hamburg cruise terminals, the one at Grasbrook in HafenCity and the new terminal in Hamburg-Altona, through a recently founded joint venture: HCC Hanseatic Cruise Centers GmbH will in future be welcoming cruise ships and their passengers to Hamburg and providing all the organization and logistics involved in supplying them. Michael Ungerer, SVP Operations of AIDA Cruises, and Joachim Köhn, a senior Unikai manager, will become Joint Managing Directors of Hanseatic Cruise Centers.
Hamburg is currently investing in cruise terminals: on 15 August, ‘AIDAaura’ will be the first vessel to berth at the new facility in the Altona district of Hamburg. The terminal here will be completed by 2010. On the same day, Cunard Line’s ‘Queen Mary 2’ will berth at Hamburg Cruise Center at Grasbrook in HafenCity. The existing lightweight structure there is to be replaced by a new building combined with a hotel in HafenCity’s Überseequartier from 2011.
The investment in these terminals will enhance the Hanseatic City’s attractiveness as a cruise location. The sector continues to offer immense growth potential: For the year 2009 Hamburg expects 80 calls, while 100 cruise ship calls have already been announced for 2010.
AIDA Cruises is market leader on the German cruise market. As shipping company and cruise operator in one, it currently runs and markets five AIDA ships. The AIDA fleet is set for further growth in the next few years. Between 2009 and 2012, AIDA Cruises will receive a new ship every year. In 2012 the AIDA fleet will comprise nine club ships. AIDA will be visiting its Hamburg base with 32 calls between March and September 2009. The number of calls in the Hanseatic City by AIDA vessels is thus greater than ever before and will account for around one third of all cruise ships visits on the Elbe.
Unikai is a subsidiary of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), forming part of its Logistics segment, and has run the Cruise Terminal in HafenCity ever since this was opened in 1998. In addition, Unikai handles vehicles and general cargo at its O’Swaldkai multifunctional terminal at Kleiner Grasbrook.
 

Source: Schednet