Port to finish cruise pavilion at Berth No. 1 in Ostuferhafen in May
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Germany’s Port of Kiel is on target to complete its new cruise passenger-handling pavilion at Berth No. 1 in Ostuferhafen by the end of May.
Scheduled to be inaugurated on 2 June when Costa Cruises’ Costa Pacifica departs from Kiel to embark on her ten-day Baltic cruise, the new pavilion is more than 110m long and 14m wide. It features a 1,560 sq m passenger check-in and waiting area, as well as a 3,000 sq m luggage and security control area. This will enable Kiel to handle three turnarounds simultaneously, rather than two.
The €4 million project to upgrade the berths, passengers and luggage areas, and site logistics project at Ostuferhafen was divided into two phases. Last year, the port installed new fenders along the 400m berth, which was deepened to ensure a constant water depth of 10m alongside.
“The work is right on target and will be finished at the end of May,” said Dirk Claus, the port’s managing director. “We are creating a very efficient facility at Berth No. 1. Very big ships carrying more than 4,000 passengers can now be processed smoothly in Ostuferhafen.”
In 2014, 22 different cruise ships will make a total 125 calls in Kiel, which also has two berths for big cruise ships at the Ostseekai Cruise Shipping Terminal. Smaller ships of up to 200m can call at the Norwegenkai berth.
“The demand for sea travel is greater now in Germany than ever before,” said Claus. “We benefit from this development and we are ideally located both as an arrival and departure port for Nordic and Baltic cruises. With the new Berth no. 1 we are now creating the capacity to handle 150 cruise ship calls every season.”