By
Rebecca Gibson |
AIDA Cruises’ AIDAcara opened the Port of Kiel’s 2015 cruise season on 4 April.
The ship berthed at the Ostseekai Terminal after calling at Lisbon, Portugal; Le Havre, France; and Dover, UK.
This year, Kiel is scheduled to handle a total of 127 calls from 23 ships, many of them measuring more than 250m in length, including Costa Cruises’ 114,000gt Costa Pacifica, which will be the biggest ship to call this year.
“The trend towards ever bigger cruise ships continues,” said Dirk Claus, the managing director of the Port of Kiel. “Even though the number of calls may remain at about the same level as last year, the total number of passengers and the overall tonnage will increase significantly.”
Two thirds of the 2015 calls will be from four cruise lines – AIDA, Costa Cruises, MSC Cruises and TUI Cruises. AIDA’s ships will make the most visits, while two of its vessels – AIDAcara and AIDAluna – will homeport in Kiel for the first time.
MSC’s MSC Orchestra will be the most frequent caller, visiting on 20 occasions, while Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth will visit the Kiel Fiord on 11 July and 20 August, and Holland America Line’s Eurodam will make eight calls.
On 12 days there will be three, and even four, ships berthed in the port, in addition to the Baltic ferry ships. Meanwhile, 12 cruise ships are expected to attend the Kieler Woche maritime event from 20-28 June.
Although the majority of the ships will dock at the Ostseekai Terminal, Berth 1 in the Ostuferhafen, which was extended to accommodate three ships simultaneously last year, will also host 19 visits.
Kiel’s Ostseekai Terminal will host the naming ceremony for TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 4 on 5 June. The ship will enter the Kiel Fiord for the first time on 14 May.
“We are looking forward to an unusual event, which will be attended by a lot of spectators,” said Claus. “The naming of Mein Schiff 4 also underscores the existing bonds of partnership that have existed for many years between the shipping company and the port.”