SINGAPORE - In less than 60
days, Singapore's new cruise terminal at Marina Bay will welcome the first of
many mega ships to come.
At least three ocean liners will be making port of calls at the
International Cruise Terminal (ICT) when it opens in the second quarter of this
year, reported The Straits Times (ST).
The first incoming vessel is The Voyager of the Seas - part of the
Royal Carribean fleet with a passenger capacity of about 3,800 - which will
dock here in May.
In November and December, two ships of the Celebrity fleet will make
their Asian debut here. The Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Millennium have
capacities of up to 2,850 and 2,034 passengers respectively.
With large cruise ships ferrying thousands of passengers in and out of
Singapore, industry players are hopeful that the struggling cruise travel
sector will get a much-needed shot in the arm.
The bigger and deeper berths at the new Marina Bay cruise facility have
the capacity to accommodate big liners like the Voyager of the Seas, which is
311m long and 63m tall.
Currently, the HabourFront Cruise Terminal can take only ships no
taller than 52m, while those exceeding 270m long are too big for its two
berths.
Previously, a large ship like the Voyager of the Seas had to be docked
at the less glamorous and accessible Pasir Panjang Container Terminal, located
about 5km away from the HabourFront terminal. Passengers had to be shuttled by
buses in and out of the terminal - a situation which was not ideal, say cruise
operators.
The opening of the $500-million ICT terminal, which is to be operated
by consortium SATS Ltd and Spanish terminal operator Creuers, will also double
the number of berths here to four, said ST.
Last year, 393 ship calls were made - about two thirds less than 928 in
2009. The number of passengers also decreased from 1.1 million passengers in
2009 to 942,000 in 2011.
ST reported that the decline is mainly due to the shutting down of
three gaming ships which made frequent calls in Singapore.
The ICT will give cruise operators more options as it is able to
accommodate bigger ships, said Ms Chin Ying Duan, spokeswoman for Royal Carribean
Cruises (Asia) will also represents the Celebrity and Azamara brands.
The report also said that travel agents are already seeing a rebound in
the demand for cruise travel as some reported as much as a 30 per cent increase
in sales at the recent National Association of Travel Agents (Natas) travel
fair.
With the ability to host bigger ships for long-haul journeys at the new
terminal, consumer choices have significantly expanded, said Ms Jane Chang,
marketing communications manager at Chan Brothers Travel.
AsiaOne
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