Wednesday, April 4, 2018 - 11:31 by ce-press
The arrival of Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ Magellan in Lerwick on March 13 launched a season set to break five records. Even higher bookings for 2019 added to the positive outlook.
Victor Sandison, Lerwick Port Authority’s senior commercial executive, said: “The scale of cruise activity this year will make it a great season for Lerwick and Shetland, including an expanded excursion programme in recognition of the higher passenger numbers.”
Over the next eight months, the Shetland port is scheduled to welcome:
-Approximately 92,000 passengers, up 81% on last year’s record 50,768.
- The most passengers yet on a single vessel: over 4,500 on MSC Meraviglia, plus over 1,500 crew
- 91 cruiseships
- The largest cruiseship yet: MSC Meraviglia at 171,598gt
- The biggest tonnage of cruiseships in a season: 3,932,639gt, up 83% on 2017
The final call of the season will be from CMV’s Marco Polo on October 11. July and August will be the busiest months, with 26 and 22 calls respectively, in a season which will see 11 maiden calls.
