Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 14:57 by ce-press
Portland's cruise season began with the 20th call from a Phoenix Reisen vessel. The company is the first to reach this milestone and so the port commissioned a hand-carved Portland stone plaque in presentation.
This was followed by the arrival of Norwegian Breakaway on an inaugural call. She is the longest and heaviest vessel to ever dock and will bring with her the greatest number of passengers on one ship (4,000 plus) that the port has dealt with to date.
Ian McQuade, general manager commercial Portland Port, said: “The inaugural call of the Norwegian Breakaway is very exciting for the port and would not have been possible without the berth extension that was opened in April last year. We hope that she will be the first of many similar-sized cruiseships to visit Portland Port.”
A width of 210m and depth of over 12.6m (CD) at the entrance of the harbour mean that there are few vessel beam, lock, or air draught restrictions.
Portland Port’s 2018 cruise season is going to be another record breaker with the greatest number of cruise calls and passengers to date. Overall the port is expecting to handle 32 calls bringing nearly 39,000 passengers to the region. Over the last 10 years the numbers have grown from just four calls and 2,000 passengers in 2009 to the record-breaking figures for 2018.
