Displaying items by tag: Cruise Calls

19th March 2020

Calls by Cruise Lines Temporarily Suspended to the Port of Cork

Royal Princess AFLOAT adds swings off Cobh Cruise Terminal and in the distance more cruise ships line the deepwater quay at Ringaskiddy in lower Cork Harbour

In an agreement by the Port of Cork company has been made to the temporary suspension of operations with Cruise Lines as a result of the escalating global COVID-19 outbreak.

Cruise liners that were due to berth (Cork Harbour) between now and April 20th have been cancelled. Cruise operations in the following months are now in question.

The Port has welcomed clarity from the cruise lines in relation to the cancellations, with these decisions being taken in the best interests of public safety.

CEO of the Port of Cork, Brendan Keating says; “We are obviously disappointed that this year’s cruise season has been impacted by COVID-19, but we fully respect the decision of the cruise companies to cancel these calls in the interests of public health. There will be a significant impact on the local community through loss of business, and we fully support Government initiatives to help those businesses trade through difficult times.”

Freight operations are continuing, and the Port expects to accommodate all scheduled vessels in the weeks ahead.

Staff members and visitors at the Port are adopting best practice in terms of social distancing, and as a precaution, inbound ships are subject to strict new guidelines as outlined in a notice to mariners.

The schedule of freight arrivals at the Port of Cork is unaffected by the COVID-19 outbreak. These inbound vessels will carry a range of goods including standard containers, fertiliser, crude oil, and animal feed.

Published in Port of Cork

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Record Cruise Ships Due in Belfast Harbour This Year

Cruiseship Berlin AFLOAT adds is seen making a call to Belfast Harbour in June last year with towage assistance from SMS Towage. In the background the famous iconic landmarks of H&W dockyard and Titanic Belfast Centre, the visitor attraction venue located on the banks of the River Lagan.

#cruiseliners - A total 285,000 visitors on board 151 cruise ships are due to call at Belfast Harbour this year, an increase of 31% on the 115 visits during the 2018 cruise season.

The figures were announced by Cruise Belfast, the partnership between Belfast Harbour and Visit Belfast.

According to Cruise Belfast, July will be the busiest month with 32 ships scheduled to call among them SAGA’s first ever newbuild vessel Spirit of Discovery. Other first time callers to Belfast this year include Disney Magic and Cruise & Maritime Voyages which acquired a ship and renamed Vasco da Gama.

In total 35 separate cruise lines will call at Belfast, the most frequent being CMV with 15 calls scheduled and Princess Cruises set at 13 calls.

The Italian-based Costa Line will also call at Belfast for the first time while the number of calls from Celebrity will double to eight. Norwegian Cruise Line is expanding its visits from one in 2018 to eleven calls as part of its strategic growth plans for the northern European market.

Published in Cruise Liners

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Competitions

The most significant events for the Half Ton Class has been the annual Half Ton Cup which was sailed under the IOR rules until 1993. More recently this has been replaced with the Half Ton Classics Cup. The venue of the event moved from continent to continent with over-representation on French or British ports. In later years the event is held biennially. Initially, it was proposed to hold events in Ireland, Britain and France by rotation. However, it was the Belgians who took the ball and ran with it. The Class is now managed from Belgium.