Monday, July 29, 2024 - 12:22 by ce-press
Beginning January 1,2026, Passenger Terminal Amsterdam’s (PTA) capacity will be reduced to one berth, and the number of calls will be limited to a maximum of 100 a year. Double bookings for 2024 and 2025 will be respected, explains Dick de Graaff, director Cruise Port Amsterdam.
This is part of a course of action outlined by the council on June 27, following a motion adopted by the Amsterdam City Council in July 2023 that ‘Amsterdam is better off without sea cruises’, and a subsequent investigation into the potential economic effects of such a motion.
It is also proposed that PTA will relocate from its current location at the Veemkade, with a target date of 2035.
An investigation on this will start in 2025. The City of Amsterdam, together with the Port of Amsterdam, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW), and the Province of North Holland, will conduct additional financial, economic, and legal research on the implications of relocating to the Coenhaven.
This research will be completed by mid-2025. Based on this, the city will decide in the fall of 2025, in coordination with the Ministry of IenW, the Port of Amsterdam, and the Province of North Holland, whether the relocation to Coenhaven is feasible.
Starting January 1, 2027, the use of shorepower will be mandatory.
When the announcement was made on June 27, Cruise Lines International Association put out the following statement: “Today’s announcement is a great example of the cruise industry’s long-standing partnership with the Port of Amsterdam and the direct outcome of our collaborative discussions on the relocation of the passenger terminal outside the city centre, which started back in 2016.
“Amsterdam is and will remain a popular cruise destination, and cruise tourism will continue delivering important economic benefits to the city: to the tune of around €105 million annually. That economic contribution is particularly significant when you consider that, of the more than 21 million visitors to Amsterdam each year, only around 1% arrive by cruiseship.”