Cruise and Ferry Review - Summer/Spring 2020

4 8 MARKETWATCH Bloomberry Cruise Terminal’s newly constructed Ilocos Cruise Port in Salomague, Philippines, recently hosted around 5,000 tourists during the maiden call of Royal Caribbean International’s Spectrum of the Seas, the largest vessel currently deployed in Asia. Tourists were ferried from Spectrum of the Seas into the port, after which they were taken on a tour of Unesco World Heritage sites in Ilocos. Spectrum of the Seas makes maiden call to Ilocos Cruise Port MSC Cruises and Abu Dhabi Ports sign berthing agreement MSC Cruises has signed a long-term agreement with Abu Dhabi Ports for preferential berthing rights at the Zayed Port and Sir Bani Yas, an island 110 miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. The contract was signed at the cruise line’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland by its CEO Gianni Onorato and Noura Rashid Al Dhaheri, director of cruise business for Abu Dhabi Ports. MSC Lirica will offer 21 cruises from the city between November 2020 and April 2021, joined by MSC Seaview from December 2020 to March 2021. Peel Ports is close to completing a new 200-metre-long floating pontoon for cruise ships, which will be moored at Greenock’s Ocean Terminal in Inverclyde, Scotland. Designed to accommodate 340-metre- long vessels, the new pontoon will be comprised of four caissons weighing 1,000 metric tonnes each. Passengers will be able to step straight from their ships into the new Ocean Terminal, which will be constructed this year. New cruise berth nears completion in Greenock The number of cruise passengers visiting Spanish ports reached a record high of 10,661,799 people in 2019 – an increase of 4.83% over the previous year – according to Puertos del Estado. Barcelona remains the country’s busiest port after receiving 3.1 million of these passengers, followed by the Balearic Islands with 2.6 million. Among the fastest growing destinations were Bahía de Cádiz, which grew by 12.35%, and Cartagena, which grew by 9%. Cruise traffic grows in Spanish ports