On February 25, 2020, Greek local time, a ceremony marking the start of construction work on the cruise terminal expansion project at the Port of Piraeus was held at the port’s cruise passenger terminal Themistocles, COSCO said in its release.
Chairman of Piraeus Port Authority S.A. Mr. Yu Zenggang said in his speech that in 2019, tourist arrivals in Greece reached 36.85 million, while cruise ships at Piraeus received 1.1 million tourists, indicating that the cruise business enjoys broad prospects and potential opportunities. The deepwater berths construction complies with the trend of large-sized cruise ships. Upon its completion in 2023, it will lay the groundwork for the further development of Greek tourism resource, cement Piraeus’ position as the cruise home port in the Mediterranean and spur Greece’s tourist economy.
Hailing the services provided by Piraeus Port, the representatives of Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruises expressed the hope of strengthening cooperation with Piraeus after the completion of the new deepwater berths and placed high expectations on their future cooperation with COSCO SHIPPING.
The new deepwater berths construction is the first mandatory investment made by Piraeus Port Authority S.A. in implementing the Master Plan. Upon completion, the new two berths will be capable of accommodating the world’s largest cruise ship with a length of 360 meters and a passenger capacity of 6,000. In 2019, cruise ships at Piraeus Port received nearly 1.1 million passengers, once again topping the 1 million mark, and the figure is expected to maintain an annual growth rate of 5-8% for the next three years.