By
Rebecca Gibson |
Germany’s Port of Kiel celebrated a sigificant milestone when it hosted its 2,500th cruise ship visitor, Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth berthed at the Ostseekai Cruise Terminal alongside MSC Cruises’ MSC Muscia, AIDA Cruises’ AIDAluna and AIDAvita.
“Kiel is my home town and so I am personally very pleased that we are able to celebrate this anniversary with our Queen Elizabeth,” said Anja Tabarelli, sales and marketing director of Cunard Line in Germany. “When she called here for the first time in July 2012 as the youngest of the Cunard Queens she was celebrated by the people of Kiel into the early hours of the morning. You could say that there is already a very special relationship between the ship and the port, with the result that we are always happy to come back here. We will do that next year as well and we look forward to our call on 21 June 2017 and to celebrating with our guests and the people of Kiel.”
The milestone was commemorated with a ceremony at the Ostseekai terminal, which included the unveiling of a wooden sculpture of a pile mooring.
“2,500 visits are an enormous accomplishment and one achieved over many years of partnership and cooperation involving the port itself, shipping companies and service providers,” said Hans-Werner Tovar, president of the city of Kiel. “I am proud that Kiel is one of the leading cruise shipping ports in northern Europe.”
Hapag-Lloyd’s Europa was the first-ever cruise ship to visit Kiel, berthing at Bollhörnkai on 23 June 1974. Her visit was one of four that first season - followed by A total of four cruise ship visits were recorded in that first season – two by “Sagafjord” and two by “Europa” (IV).
During the 1980s and the 1990s, Kiel was visited regularly by German-based ships Europa, FTI Cruises’ Berlin, the ship that is now Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ Astor and Arkona, now Saga Cruises’ Saga Pearl II. Between 1984 and 1994 the number of visits rose from 14 to 66, and the former Reederei Festival Cruises stationed a ship in Kiel for an entire season at the end of the 1990s.
Costa Cruises’ homeporting Costa Marina in Kiel in 2002, followed by AIDA Cruises’ AIDAblu in 2004 and MSC Cruises’ MSC Lirica in 2006. In 2007 Kiel berthed 100 cruise ships in a single season for the first time.
Although cruise ships previously docked alongside ferries at Kiel’s ferry terminals, the port built a dedicated cruise terminal – Ostseekai Terminal – in 2006 to cater to larger, more modern vessels. It opened on 24 April 2007 with a maiden call from AIDA’s AIDAdiva. Since opening, the Ostseekai Terminal has hosted the naming ceremony for AIDA’s AIDAsol and TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 4. The biggest ship to call to date is Princess Cruises’ 143,000gt Regal Princess, which berthed at the port in 2015.
“The Ostseekai is one of the most modern and efficient terminal facilities in the whole of Europe,” said Dirk Claus, managing director of the Port of Kiel. “Located in the centre of the city, it can handle ships which are 350m long and carry 4,000 passengers.
MSC Cruises has recorded the most visits to Kiel so far (327), followed by AIDA, Hapag-Lloyd and Costa. A total 4.5 million cruise ship passengers have travelled to and from Kiel.
“We are in a very good position with our terminal facilities,” said Claus. “The developments of the past year and an increase in passenger totals of nearly 30% point this up.”