In 2018, the port of Kiel was visited on a total of 169 separate occasions (in 2017 these were 143) by 34 cruise ships with a total GT (gross tonnage) of over 11.5 million, which is an increase of 15.3% over the previous year.
About 600,000 cruisers boarded or left a ship at the different terminals, which is an increase of 16.5 %. To date, 179 calls to Kiel by 33 cruise ships have been registered. Total GT will increase to more than 15 million and the number of cruise passengers could reach 620,000.
This season, the most frequent guests will be the ships of AIDA, Costa, MSC, and TUI Cruises with AIDA and TUI calling at the port with four different vessels each. The largest cruise ship in 2019 will be MSC Meraviglia.
New visitors also include ms Nieuw Statendam and AIDAprima which will be the first ship to be supplied with LNG during its stay in the port. The regular season starts on March 31 with a visit by Viking Sky and ends mid-October.
Currently, the Port of Kiel is investing more than 30M Euros in environmental protection and port expansion.
By spring, the port apron of Ostuferhafen will be redesigned so that logistical processes can be optimized. The hard standing space for cars, trucks, and trailers will be expanded. The construction works for the commercial port's first onshore-power supply plant are also in full swing.
The plant, that is due to supply eco-friendly electricity to the ships of Color Line, will be finished by Easter. A Europe-wide tender for onshore-power supply plants is prepared to be installed at Schwedenkai and Ostseekai.
The largest individual investments are the on-shore power supply plant at Ostseekai and the new second cruise terminal, amounting to 13M and 9M Euros.