• 2016 October 10 16:12

    Port Kiel posts record cruise shipping season ever

    This year’s cruise shipping season ended in Kiel on Saturday (October 8th) with a call by the “AIDAvita”. Overall, the port of Kiel was visited 147 times this year by 26 different cruise ships of more than 9.3 million GT, compared to 133 cruise ship visits in 2015. That was an increase in tonnage of 8.1 % over last year. More than 485,000 passengers boarded or disembarked at the port’s various terminals – 5.8 % more than in 2015. Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the PORT OF KIEL (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) said: “We can look back on Kiel’s best cruise shipping season to date, the Port Authority said in a media release.

    The number of calls by ships, as well as passenger volumes and also overall tonnage, were all at record levels for the port and came as the Ostseekai Terminal marked its tenth year of operation. The investment of €35 million made in the terminal has been a sound one”.

    This year’s success has been made possible by the fact that, for the first time ever, two cruise shipping companies – AIDA Cruises and TUI Cruises – have each made Kiel the base port for three of their ships. Along with AIDA and TUI, the most frequent visitors have been MSC, Holland America Line and Costa with together more than 100 visits. On no fewer than twelve occasions three and even four cruise ships were berthed in the port at the same time. The highlight of the season, from a numbers point of view, was the opening Saturday of the Kieler Woche sailing regatta on June 18th when a record five ocean-going and two river cruise ships were berthed in the port at the same time in addition to the regular big ferries.

    Other highlights of the 2016 cruise shipping season in Kiel included the maiden voyage of “Mein Schiff 5” and the first visits by the Holland America Line flagship “Koningsdam” and P&O’s “Arcadia”. The port welcomed back “The World” and also Cunard’s “Queen Elizabeth” – a ship notable for being the 2,500th cruise vessel ever to call at Kiel. Among the shipping companies which have been visiting the port for decades are Hapag-Lloyd and also Costa. The latter marked its 40th Kiel anniversary with a reception on board the cruise ship “Costa Pacifica”. Kiel can boast a good geographic location, port infrastructures and a pallet of services. In addition the port enjoys close partnership ties with its customers which have cemented business relations over many years. This port service pallet is being expanded in future to allow larger volumes of waste water to be brought ashore. For this purpose a pressure pipeline is being built next year which will quadruple current 30 m³ per hour handling capacity. The existing service is already regularly used by the shipping companies AIDA, TUI Cruises and Phoenix Seereisen.

    As of this moment, 131 ship visits to the port have been booked for the coming season and they involve 26 different cruise ships. The new season will begin on April 9th when the “AIDAcara” arrives in Kiel. During 2017 and for the first time the shipping company MSC will base a cruise ship of the MSC-Fantasia Class in the port. Onlookers in Kiel will be able to admire the 333 m long class leader “MSC Fantasia” from April 29th on the Kiel Fiord. When she arrives, the 137,936 GT ship with 1,637 cabins will be the biggest ever to offer cruises starting and ending in the Port of Kiel.

    Commented Dirk Claus: “With our very efficient passenger terminals at the Ostseekai and in the Ostuferhafen, we in Kiel are well equipped to handle ships of this class with their 4,000 passengers”. In the coming season Kiel will also once again be the base port for all the shipping companies active on the German cruise shipping market. The most frequent guests will be the ships of AIDA Cruises and TUI Cruises, followed by those of MSC. In addition Kiel will also be visited regularly by ships carrying passengers from abroad undertaking day excursions into our region from Kiel. In this category the port expects newcomers “Le Soléal” from the Ponant shipping company as well as the “Balmoral” of Fred Olsen Cruises. According to current bookings, the 2017 cruise shipping season will last until October 25th and will thus be the longest so far, apart from the winter cruises.


2024 March 29

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11:46 The "Ane Maersk" calls at the Eurogate container terminal in Hamburg for the first time on its maiden voyage from Asia to Europe
11:20 Sallaum Lines and Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding commence construction of Ocean Class vessels
10:43 Oasis Marine develops solutions for offshore hydrogen bunkering
10:03 Petrofac secures contract extension with ONEgas West in the UK market

2024 March 28

18:05 Jan De Nul, ENGIE and Equans launch a pilot project centred around the use of Vanadium Redox Flow batteries
17:35 Latvian port equipment manufacturer Bleste introduces new bulk handling ‘bucket’
17:05 Investors upgrade Navios Maritime Partners
16:25 DEME reports 22% increase in the orderbook and a record-high turnover of 3.3 billion euros in 2023
16:14 MABUX: Bunker Outlook, Week 13, 2024
15:41 AD Ports Group announced the opening of Saadiyat Marina & Ferry Terminal and Rabdan Marina
15:11 Sydney invests $11.5 million in two new operational vessels designed by Incat Crowther
14:55 China’s Jinzhao wins Peru $405m port construction contract
14:13 APM Terminals Moín handled six million TEU
13:48 ClassNK grants Innovation Endorsements for Products & Solutions to two innovative initiatives by MOL
13:37 Konecranes launches its flagship Konecranes X-series industrial crane
12:53 United European Car Carriers UECC spearheads collaboration with industry leaders to advance CNSL as a sustainable marine fuel
12:26 Ocean Network Express announces Transpacific service
11:48 Yang Ming announces 2025 Trans-Pacific service network
11:24 Fincantieri signs contract for the supply of two PPAs to Indonesia
10:42 Maersk transported more than 660,000 TEU using clean fuel in 2023
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09:48 PONANT and FARWIND Energy partner to develop green hydrogen refueling solutions

2024 March 27

18:22 Bureau Veritas awards world’s first prototype certification for SolarDuck’s floating offshore solar solution
17:58 The recently converted Allseas's shallow water pipelay barge starts preparations for its first commercial project
17:38 The Port of Rotterdam calls on the European Commission and Parliament to focus on actively promoting green energy
15:23 SEFE to become sole shareholder of WIGA
14:53 Ocean Installer secures yet another SLM contract with Equinor
14:23 Cadeler signs offshore wind turbine installation contract for the vessel Wind Scylla
13:42 Carnival Cruise Line orders 5th Excel-class cruise ship
13:11 Maersk and MSC overcharging cargo owners for EU ETS, says T&E
12:52 The Port Authority of Valencia launches the ZAL project in the Port of Valencia
12:11 Clarkson Port Services and Peak Group collaborate to deliver Port Agency services across the North Sea
11:42 Wan Hai Lines holds ship naming ceremony for new vessels
11:24 Consolidated shipping lines EBIT loss was $1.44 billion in Q4 2023: Sea-Intelligence
10:49 Seaspan Shipyards receives long-term contracts for the pre-construction work of the the Canadian Coast Guard's first six multi-mission vessels
10:14 Woodside completes sale of 10% scarborough interest

2024 March 26

18:02 COSCO Shipping Lines introduces new Americas service
17:30 Davie awarded first contract for design of icebreaker fleet under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy
17:04 Sanctions complicate Arctic LNG ship sales, Hanwha Ocean says - Bloomberg
16:57 Terntank places an order for 1+1 additional wind/ methanol-ready hybrid tanker
16:28 BW LNG completes acquisition of two TFDE vessels from Stena Bulk
15:50 Hanwha Ocean develops VR-based special vehicle simulator
15:20 TotalEnergies and SINOPEC join forces to produce sustainable jet fuel at a SINOPEC's refinery
14:52 Wärtsilä Lifecycle Agreement to guarantee operational reliability of new wind farm installation vessel
14:23 Hudong-Zhonghua launches two LNG carriers
13:51 Cargo ship hits Baltimore’s Key Bridge
13:12 Final sanctioned tanker with Russian Sokol oil to reach China port - Reuters
12:42 Adani Ports acquires 95% of Odisha's Gopalpur Port from SP Group for $162 million
12:21 IHI and Yara Clean Ammonia agree to jointly assess clean ammonia business collaboration
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11:16 Wartsila and Royal Caribbean Group celebrate 15 years of collaboration on digital transformation
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10:21 Eni, Fincantieri and RINA establish partnership for maritime transport decarbonization

2024 March 25

18:07 The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore continues to investigate reports of oil spills off the port of Tuas
17:31 “K” Line, NIPPON HAKUYO and OPT Gate sign an agreement for a new fire detection system for car carriers
17:07 Greek merchant fleet recorded slight decline in January 2024
16:47 Hanwha Ocean Plans to develop green technology and naval ships
16:25 U-Ming Singapore and ITOCHU sign milestone MoU for the joint development of ammonia dual-fuel and de-carbonized vessels
15:34 Svitzer targets methanol-fuelled MAN 175DF-M engine for tug application
15:04 Wallenius Wilhelmsen signs contracts for four 9,300 CEU vessels with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard
14:40 Taiwan International Port to upgrade terminal facility at Kaohsiung
13:59 Сruise ship Carnival Freedom catches fire near Bahamas
12:59 Hanwha Ocean wins 2.4 tln-won order for 8 LNG ships
11:16 Inland Ports meet in Paris to talk about the innovation potential of inland ports
10:50 IMO agrees possible outline for maritime “net-zero framework”
10:24 Hapag-Lloyd to continue to avoid the Red Sea route
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2024 March 24

16:18 Inchgreen Marine Park upgraded as part of £11m investment
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