Ostseekai Cruise Terminal News

The call by AIDAcara on Sunday, April 7, marks the beginning of cruise season 2019 in the port of Kiel.Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director at Port of Kiel (Seehafen Kiel GmbH & Co. KG) said: “The upcoming cruise season will be very exciting and we will welcome a lot of new ships to Kiel. The second and new terminal building at the Ostseekai is presently under construction and we are working on the implementation of the onshore power project.”The port is currently investing about 30 million Euros in the cruise sector. Half of this amount is dedicated to sustainability measures. To that effect, the construction of the commercial port’s first onshore power supply plant at the Norwegenkai Terminal is on the finishing straight.

The youngest ship in the fleet of TUI Cruises - “Mein Schiff 1” - has arrived in Kiel on her first visit. Kiel is the first German passenger seaport in which the new vessel has introduced herself, just a few days after she was handed over to her owners following completion in Turku, Finland. The new cruise ship, which is of more than 111,500 GT and 315 m long, arrived in the Kiel Fiord early on Thursday morning, April 27th, and was welcomed with a water fountain tribute from one of the port’s tugs and escorted to her berth. Crowds of onlookers lined the banks of the fiord and came to the Ostseekai Cruise Terminal to catch a glimpse of the brand new “Mein Schiff 1”.

A modern ship waste-water reception facility went into operation at Kiel’s Ostseekai on June 14. During an inauguration ceremony the new plant’s valves were symbolically opened by Kiel’s Lord Mayor Dr. Ulf Kämpfer, Construction chief Doris Grondke, the head of the Water Management and Marine and Coastal Protection Department in the Schleswig-Holstein Environment Ministry Dietmar Wienholdt, Port chief Dr. Dirk Claus and Captain Kjell Holm of TUI Cruises. The new facility, which cost well over €1.8 million…

Kiel is today (Saturday, 13th Aug.) celebrating the arrival of its 2,500th cruise ship visitor Cunard Line’s “Queen Elizabeth”, which berthed this morning to mark the event. The President of the City of Kiel, Hans-Werner Tovar paid tribute to the occasion during a reception at the Ostseekai Cruise Terminal. “2500 visits are an enormous accomplishment and one achieved over many years of partnership and co-operation involving the port itself, shipping companies and service providers. I am proud that Kiel is one of the leading cruise shipping ports in northern Europe”, he said. To commemorate the 2500th visit, an artist’s wooden sculpture of a pile mooring was unveiled at the terminal. Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (Seehafen Kiel GmbH & Co.

The brand-new TUI Cruises newbuilding Mein Schiff 5 has arrived in Kiel – her first German port of call since being handed over in Turku, Finland, a few days ago. The 99,500GT, 295-meter-long cruise ship sailed into the Kiel Fiord early this morning, escorted by a Kiel tug and to a water fountain welcome. Thousands of visitors to the Kieler Woche sailing regatta watched from the shore as the Mein Schiff 5 berthed at the Ostseekai Cruise Terminal. At the traditional onboard reception afterwards…

P&O Cruises’ Arcadia berthed June 22, for her first visit ever to the Port of Kiel, arriving just as the prestigious Kieler Woche sailing regatta marked its half-way point. More than 2,000, mainly British, passengers used the opportunity to visit northern Europe’s biggest maritime sailing event. Following her early morning arrival and to mark the occasion, a port tug provided “Arcadia” with a water fountain escort to her berth at the Ostseekai Cruise Terminal. During a reception later on board…

German Seamen’s Mission takes over new showcase facility. The German Seamen’s Mission (Deutsche Seemannsmission e.V.) has moved into its new showcase Seafarers’ Lounge at the Ostseekai Cruise Terminal in Kiel. The facility is for the use of ship crews and is designed to improve communication and offer advice. At an official opening ceremony and on behalf of the Port of kiel, which was responsible for building the facility, Dr. Ulf Kämpfer, Lord Mayor of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital Kiel…

“AIDAcara” is first to call at the Ostseekai Terminal. The 2013 cruise shipping year opened in Kiel on April 13 when the first ship of the season, AIDAcara, arrived at the Ostseekai from Dover. She berthed at around 0900 at the cruise shipping terminal after earlier being treated to a water fountain display from an SFK tug when she left the Kiel Canal. Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel said, “We are well prepared for the cruise shipping season. Everything is ready at Kiel’s cruise shipping terminal.” A total of 128 calls by 21 different ships have been registered this season.

Today marks the beginning of Kiel’s tenth season as a base port for the cruise ships of the Costa Crociere Shipping Company. It comes as “Costa Pacifica” arrives in Kiel to become the biggest cruise ship ever to berth in the port. Arriving from Harwich, the Costa flagship was met early this morning by the tug “Bülk” and escorted with a fountain display to Kiel’s Ostseekai Cruise Terminal where her captain and crew were officially welcomed by the President of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital, Cathy Kietzer.

Despite the difficult economic climate, the Port of Kiel handled 4.86 million tons of cargo in 2009, nearly reaching its 2008 handling figure of 4.91 million tons. Individual business sectors developed in different ways. The handling of bulk cargo, containers and conventional breakbulk bound Lithuania was up while ferry traffic to and from Scandinavia and Russia posted declining volumes. Kiel was in fact even able to show a small increase in the passenger transport sector, handling 1.88 million passengers in 2009 against 1.85 million in 2008 as the port’s significance as a sea tourist hub also continues to grow. In terms of cargo handling, the Ostuferhafen is the strongest facility in the Port of Kiel, handling 2.3 million tons last year, 11% more than in the previous year.