Hamburg's three terminals welcomed 170 cruise calls and more than 700,000 passengers
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Cruise Gate Hamburg (CGH) handled a record 170 cruise ship calls and more than 700,000 passengers at Hamburg’s three cruise terminals in Altona, HafenCity and Steinwerder this year.
This marks a rise from 153 calls and 520,000 passengers in 2015, which has been partly attributed to the addition of Cruise Center Steinwerder.
“Since the inauguration of the Cruise Center Steinwerder in June last year we have perfected our service to very large cruise ships in Hamburg and demonstrated that we are excellently placed both in terms of technical equipment and capacities,” said Sacha Rougier, managing director of CGH. “So far, the Cruise Center Steinwerder has seen 90 cruise ship visits and the turnaround of more than 530,000 passengers. We are currently working on further improving the accessibility of the Cruise Center Steinwerder by public transport.”
CGH expects a double-digit percentage growth in passenger numbers in 2017. Work to widen the entrance to the Vorhafen Harbour Basin will also be completed, allowing ships with a beam of 40m to berth at the Altona Terminal.
Highlights of the 2017 season will include maiden calls by Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Jade and Norwegian Joy, TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 6, Royal Caribbean International’s Independence of the Seas, MSC Cruises’ MSC Preziosa and Silversea Cruises’ Silver Wind.
“We will continue our efforts to make Hamburg as a cruise port more attractive to cruise lines and passengers by investing in modern infrastructure facilities and supplying alternative energy to cruise ships,” said Jens Meier, chairman of Hamburg Port Authority’s management board.