Ports & destinations

Le Havre port and organisations offer breakfast boxes to crews

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 07 April 2021 07 April 2021

As the result of local initiative in the Port of Le Havre in France, breakfast boxes and messages of goodwill are delivered to ships that call at the port of on the Channel coast.

“Since March 15, a French breakfast with fresh baguettes, croissants, jam and other delicacies is delivered to the ships, as well as a supportive message to Captain and Crew. The surprise and happiness are great, they go well beyond this ‘gourmet box,’ as shown by the many grateful messages received,” the port authority said in a statement.

Initiated by the Propeller Club of Le Havre, many organisations are involved with the project. These include The Maritime and Port Companies Union, private terminal operator Compagnie Industrielle et Maritime, religious associations Mission de la Mer and Deutsche Seemann Mission plus the Association Havraise d'Accueil des Marins and the Propeller Club itself, the port said.

Crew welfare has become a major issue in shipping in the wake of Covid-19 as many of them have been forced to spend extensively long periods of time onboard ships as crew changes have been greatly hampered by travel restrictions and suspension of airline services.

Phuket to open quarantine free to fully vaccinated visitors 1 July

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 31 March 2021 31 March 2021

The resort town of Phuket in Thailand will start to welcome fully vaccinated visitors, without quarantine, on 1 July, SEA Tours said a statement.

This follows a decision by the country’s Public Health Ministry and it means that visitors arriving by any mode of transport will be able to visit the town, but in small groups at start, the tour operator said.

The Thai government expects to have all locals at Phuket vaccinated before the end of June.

“Samui, Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Pattaya, Kood, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and other destinations (are) to follow by year end,” SEA Tours said.. 

Antigua secures home port deal with P&O Cruises

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 02 April 2021 02 April 2021

Antigua Cruise Port has finalized negotiations with Carnival-owned P&O Cruises, the world’s largest leisure company, to homeport a new megaship in Antigua. The vessel Arvia, which translates from Latin to “From the Seashore”, is currently under construction in Germany and will join the P&O Cruises fleet in December 2022.

Antigua Cruise Port led by Dona Regis-Prosper, Global Ports Holdings General Manager for Antigua, expressed her excitement with P&O’s notice of homeporting at the GPH Antigua Cruise Port. “ We are thrilled to partner with P&O and the Antigua Ministry of Tourism in the return to cruise tourism in Antigua” said Regis-Prosper.

Global Ports Holding PLC entered into a concession agreement with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in 2019 to develop and manage Antigua’s cruise port. As part of this agreement, GPH recently completed construction of the fifth berth, which is the newest pier at St. John’s Port. Arvia is one of the first ships confirmed to use the new pier, which will enable Oasis class and Excellence class vessels to bring tens of thousands of additional passengers to Antigua annually.

“The anticipation of more cruise ships coming into Antigua faster than originally projected means that we will push the start of the $2 million uplift of the Heritage Quay Shopping Mall and the $25 million commercial development at Pointe to begin as quickly as possible,” she continued.

GM Dona Regis- Prosper thanked her team, the Government and other industry partners for their continued support and commitment to the development of Antigua Cruise Product.

In addition to a major transit port, Antigua is uniquely positioned for homeporting for cruise lines, offering key services that provide convenience and added value for cruise passengers and vessels. In addition to its strategically beneficial location at the heart of the Caribbean, Antigua boasts various homeporting assets including the ability to facilitate airlift from major cities in Europe and North America, allocation of a designated airport terminal for homeporting, five berths, and provisioning and other services at the port.

Colin Murphy, Head of Business Development in the Americas for GPH, heralded the new partnership as “one of the many significant benefits that working with GPH has been able to bring to Antigua.” He added that “No matter which destination we partner with, we are always focused on supporting the success and welfare of the community. Our strong relationships with the cruise lines helped us to support the finalization of homeport deals in Nassau, Bahamas and now, we have delivered a similarly successful opportunity for Antigua. We will continue to collaborate with our cruise partners to find the most meaningful ways to create lasting benefits for destinations like Antigua that have given us an opportunity to help them enhance their tourism product. It’s a win for everyone.”

Regis-Prosper added that, “Our booking rates for the second half of 2021 and for 2022 remain steady, so we are truly looking forward to resuming cruising and helping our Heritage Quay tenants, downtown stakeholders, and other port partners return to a sense of normalcy. We know that our tourism partners are very anxious to return to work, as are we, so we are doing everything we can to help resume cruising to and from Antigua safely. This includes launching discussions with cruise lines that have not historically called on our port. We will continue to work with the Government and other relevant partners to ensure that Antigua & Barbuda embraces these considerable opportunities quickly in our very competitive Caribbean cruise market.”

Global Ports Holding describes partnerships on Nassau homeporting

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Ports & Destinations Ports & Destinations

Published: 23 March 2021 23 March 2021

Cruising has started to bounce back in the Caribbean with recent announcements of various cruise lines Two major ports managed by Global Ports Holding Plc (GPH) will serve as critical partners in the restart of cruise tourism in the region in June and July.

On March 15, Nassau Cruise Port Ltd. formally announced its partnership with luxury cruise brand, Crystal Cruises. The launch of the Crystal Cruises 7-night round-trip “Luxury Bahamas Escapes” series of voyages from Nassau, which was announced during a March 11 press conference hosted by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Crystal Cruises, will begin on July 3, 2021 on board Crystal Serenity. The global cruise brand revealed in a recent news release that within the first 24 hours of opening reservations “nearly 4,000 enthusiastic travelers reserved staterooms or suites on at least one of the 7-night voyages that cruise from Nassau or Bimini roundtrip booking more than 25% of the 16 voyages combined availability.”

On Friday, March 19, Royal Caribbean announced the relaunch of its Caribbean cruise service in June. Each trip in this itinerary will also begin and end at NCP. The international cruise giant has published a summer line-up of 7-night cruises aboard Adventure of the Seas, which will include visits to Nassau, Grand Bahama, Perfect Day at CocoCay (a Royal Caribbean private island destination), and Cozumel, Mexico.

“We are extremely excited to participate in the relaunch of cruising in the region,” exclaimed Mike Maura, Jr., Global Ports Holding Regional Director, Americas, and CEO of Nassau Cruise Port Ltd. “While home port service may not have been a part of the short-term strategy for Nassau one year ago, we are more than willing to speed up our plans and adapt to ensure the survival of the industry.”

“This opportunity could not have been achieved without a strong commitment to the trilateral partnership between key contributors to this process – Nassau Cruise Port Ltd., the Government of The Bahamas, and our cruise line partners” he remarked. “Each entity works together to ensure that everyone has what they need to make this work. NCP collaborates with the government to contribute to policy and regulation development to ensure that the best interests of our communities are maintained; the government collaborates with the cruise lines on health protocols, contractual matters, and other details to ensure a mutually beneficial partnership exists on an ongoing basis; and NCP works with the cruise lines to ensure that their operational, passenger experience, and other needs are met at the port. It takes a lot of teamwork, coordination, listening, and flexibility to achieve such effective collaboration. We appreciate the constant support of all our partners in making this kind of progress possible.”

He confirmed that, “At its peak, vessels that homeport here will potentially bring thousands of new passengers to Nassau annually, which is not only significant for us but for other local industry players as well. This opening will generate an extensive amount of economic activity for hotels, tour operators, taxis, and other tourism stakeholders as this area of our business grows.”

According to August 2020 data provided by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), the Caribbean lost at least 8 million jobs due to the pandemic last year. “COVID-19 brought bustling ports like Nassau and Antigua to a complete standstill,” Maura Jr. remarked. “It is our duty to do whatever we can to bring those jobs back to our communities, to reinspire confidence in the industry, and to demonstrate our support for the cruise lines as we work together to bring the industry back to its former glory – one voyage at a time.”

In Nassau, home port operations will begin amid ongoing construction as general contractor, ENKA, completes the marine works and launches plans to start the upland development. Maura, Jr. added that “NCP has been accredited with a Safe Travels certification which was awarded by the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) in August 2020. Additionally, as part as Global Ports Holding network of ports, NCP is applying the GPH health and safety protocols for operations. We are amending our operational plans in response to this very exciting opportunity so that passengers remain unaffected by the evolution of our project. Every aspect of their experience is being planned and reviewed to ensure the success of this venture.”

Colin Murphy, GPH Head of Business Development, Americas, shed light on the potential future of home port operations in both destinations. “The ability to give cruise lines the option to homeport presents a massive opportunity for Nassau and Antigua, making partnerships with our ports even more critical in influencing the regional success of the industry. Fortunately, GPH has an extensive experience in home port operations in many of its Mediterranean ports. We are sharing the knowledge that these ports have with our Caribbean teams to assist with developing port-specific home port protocols. This is one of the many benefits that these destinations have experienced in partnering with GPH. Since our business is entirely focused on port management and operations, the teams in Nassau and Antigua have an opportunity now to expand their expertise and grow as professionals as we conduct this knowledge transfer.”

Murphy noted that “We have actually received interest from several cruise lines about providing home port services in Nassau and Antigua recently. Being able to offer this benefit to them will bring an extensive boost to the profiles of each of these countries as major tourism players, which has always been one of our overarching goals as a partner and supporter of their local tourism industries. As our discussions with the cruise lines advance, we continue to pursue opportunities to expand our reach in the Americas to bring more business and opportunities to other communities in the region.”