Alesund in Norway will be able to handle two of the larger cruiseships at the same time and the same place come 2012. Due to the growth of calls to the port, it has brought forward its plans to increase the capacity of the central berthing facilities.
The quay front will be extended from 370m to 570m which will also give 200m berthing facilities on the shoreside of the pier. Even so the port has “no restrictions on the length of cruiseship that can tie up alongside” having already handled Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2, explains Bente Saxon, manager public relations and sales tourism at Visit Alesund.
This year the port is expecting 75 calls which is a slight increase on the 73 calls of 2009. New ships to the port in 2010 include Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Constellation, Holland America Line’s Maasdam, Hurtigruten’s Fram, Royal Caribbean International’s Vision of the Seas and Seabourn Cruise Line’s Seabourn Sojourn. For 2011, Ms Saxon says “the forecast seems great with many larger ships and many new calls planned”.
The port has black and grey water facilities permanently installed at the cruise pier.
