During a reception on board, Torsten Albig, Lord Mayor of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital and Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) cordially welcomed the ship’s captain and crew and presented them with a plaque marking the ship’s first visit to the port. Torsten Albig said “we are very proud that AIDA Cruises decided to name ‘AIDAsol’ in Kiel. The entire city is looking forward to a splendid occasion which will attract many thousands of enthusiastic spectators”.
As of this moment, 126 calls have booked in for the coming cruise shipping season by nineteen different cruise ships. The cruise shipping season will also be a good month longer this year and last from April 3rd to October 28th. Compared to last year, the number of cruise ship arrivals at the Ostseekai will again rise slightly, from 109 to 111. With immediate effect, the Bollhörnkai-Nord is being reserved for the giant ferries of Stena Line and is no longer available to cruise ships. “We are now on course for even further growth”, declared Dirk Claus. “The total tonnage of ships calling at Kiel will rise again this year by a good 10% to more than 7.5 million GT. For the first time, we expect more than 350,000 cruise shipping passengers”, he added.
Overall in the Port of Kiel, 2011 promises to be a year rich in special events. Following the “AIDAsol” naming right at the beginning of the season, AIDA Cruises will offer a further 27 cruises from Kiel with the “AIDAcara” from the beginning of May. The biggest passenger ship ever to call at the Port of Kiel, the 114,000 GT “Costa Pacifica”, is expected on May 18th using Kiel as her base port. She will undertake 11 cruises to northern Europe. The most frequent visitors this year will once again be the ships of the Mediterranean Shipping Company – “MSC Orchestra” and “MSC Poesia” – calling at the port a total of 36 times. New in Kiel will be TUI Cruises’ “Mein Schiff 2”, which will arrive for the first time on May 25th. Twelve cruise ships are booked to call during the Kieler Woche in June. They include Germany’s TV ‘Love Boat’ “Deutschland” – which will be on hand for the week’s closing firework display – and the “Astor”, both of which have again included Kiel in their itineraries.
The SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG operates Kiel’s commercial port on behalf of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital of Kiel, of which it is a 100% subsidiary. The port boasts a total of three modern terminals for ferry and cruise ships at the Ostseekai, Schwedenkai and Norwegenkai – all of them close to the city centre.