Rostock is confident that it’ll be able to restart cruising operations in the second quarter of 2021. The port announced this in a press release for 2020 results.
“We are confident that cruise tourism in Warnemünde and the Baltic Sea will start again in the second quarter of this year. The precondition for this is an easing of the intensity of the pandemic in Germany and Europe and the consequent lifting of national and international travel restrictions,” said the Managing Director of Rostock Port, Jens A. Scharner.
He added that implementing “comprehensive hygiene and safety concepts” for passengers and ships’ crews onboard and in the cruise ports will play a “decisive role in the successful restart of cruise shipping.”
Despite planning for the calls of 207 cruise ships with more than 600,000 passengers, Warnemünde cruise port only saw one port call in 2020, which was carried out by a passenger vessel with 200 travelers.
However, there were some positive news for the cruise port in 2020 as its responsible authority, the planning department of the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock, conducted the construction of a shore power installation to supply ships at berths P7 and P8.
A declaration of intent to that effect on the joint promotion of environmentally friendly and sustainable cruise shipping was signed with AIDA Cruises, the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock and Rostock Port in September 2018, according to the press release.
“The aim is to start the test operation as soon as possible,” Rostock Port wrote.
Additionally, in order to improve the quality and safety of cruise shipping in Warnemünde. the federal state, the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock and Rostock Port invested in the new-building of an additional terminal building at berth P8.
“The Warnemünde Cruise Center 8, which is 186 meters long and 30 meters wide, is to be used for cruise passenger traffic from the start of the cruise shipping season this year,” Rostock Port stated.
