Harmony Cruise, Korea’s newest cruise operator, has chosen Wilhelmsen Ships Service (WSS) to provide ships agency services at ports on its Japan itinerary.
Harmony Cruise was launched in February 2012 by Seoul-based Polaris Shipping, offering a variety of three and four-day cruises in the South Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Russian markets. Its Japanese itinerary will include calls at Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, Hakata, Nagasaki and Kagoshima, representing ship’s agency services for WSS. Mr Ryota Matsuo from WSS Japan’s Operations Department says the company is pleased to support the new venture, based on the strong pedigree of its owner, Polaris Shipping.
“We have acted as agents for cruise lines including Costa Crociere, Holland America Line, Cunard and ResidenSea for many years, so we have a good understanding of the needs of our cruise customers. In 2009 we were recognised as one of the best 10 port agents by ResidenSea when its cruise ship The World, called in Japan.” The Asian cruise market continues to show strong growth, with first-time passengers particularly from China contributing to a positive outlook for WSS in Japan and across the region, according to Mr Matsuo.
“The growing Chinese market means the number and size of the cruise ships have been rising, which means more calls at Japanese ports. Established cruise companies are already running short cruises between China, Korea and Japan and new players are looking to extend to the Japanese and Korean markets, potentially increasing port of calls further.” WSS offers a comprehensive range of ships agency services, including full agency, protective agency and husbandry as well as its market-leading Ships Agency Redefined (SARD) service, which provides a simplified means of handling multiple port calls at predictable cost, using a single point of contact worldwide.