The new mooring space in the Altona fishing port will be given a modern terminal building with an integrated and automated gateway. This will speed up the putting in and casting off of ships. Preparatory work for the project on the marine side has been going on since August. Before the end of this year a start will be made with the construction of the quay wall, so that the first cruiser will be able to put in to the new berthing space by mid-August 2009.

Then the mooring basin will need to be created, and further work done on the surrounding area. The complex should be finally completed in time for the 2010 cruiser season. The external design of the terminal building is being carried out in close consultation with the Altona district council.

The new cruiser terminal at Hamburg is needed, because marine holidays are the most rapidly growing sector of international tourism, and Hamburg is benefiting to an exceptional degree from the cruiser boom. The new Altona terminal alone is expected to have 50 ships putting in a year from 2010 on. The Altona-owned Fischereihafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft (FEG) [Fishing Port Development Company] is being given another 16.4 million euros by the council for the realisation of the terminal.

This brings the total money invested in the complex to something like 29.5 million euros.

Cruiser tourism is a rich source of income for Hamburg. In 2007 alone the city played host to 130,000 cruiser passengers. By 2010 this figure is sure to double at least, and the cruisers are becoming bigger all the time. The passengers and ship’s crews will then contribute more than 90 million euros in turnover to the cash tills of Hamburg’s tourism, catering trade, hotels and retail sector. Further income is expected from visitors to Hamburg and overnight tourists who just come to the port to admire the massive ships.