M/V Delphin arrival at Port of Gdansk kicks off summer 2014 cruising season
The high season in the Baltic cruise ship industry has been launched. Tour operators providing shore excursions of port cities in our region have announced thirty-nine calls to be made in Gdansk this summer. The first to arrive was m/s "Delphin", which docked in the Port of Gdansk on Sunday, 11 May, the Port of Gdansk Authority's press release said.
Four days earlier, the vessel set out for her voyage from the Dutch port of Ijmuiden and visited Hamburg, Brunsbuettel, Ostermoor, Rendsburg and Kiel. Around 450 passengers, catered for by a crew of 230, spent the night before docking in Gdansk at sea. The 156.3 metre long and 22.1 metre beam ocean cruiser, with a deadweight of ca. 2.700 tonnes, was built in 1975 and is operated under the Bahamas flag. She was docked at the Obroncow Westerplatte Quay and is scheduled to return there twice this year: in June and in August. The Quay, suited to accommodate ferries and cruise ships, will receive the majority of cruiseliners visiting Gdansk. Only two of them, although smaller in size, but comfortable "Seabourn Legend" - the record holder scheduled to visit Gdansk five times - and "Seadream" will dock in Wladyslawa IV Basin.
In the previous years, the cruise ship season at the Port of Gdansk was traditionally launched with the arrival of the 205 metre long "Albatros" handled by Maritime Agency in Gdynia. This year however, she will have a two days' delay and is scheduled to visit Gdansk twice. Similar is the case with several other cruise ships that remain "loyal" to Gdansk and have been announced by agencies such as "Marbalco", "Baltic Gateway",""Polsteam", "ISS Poland" and "BSA".
Port of Gdansk is a major international transportation hub situated in the central part of the southern Baltic coast, which ranks among Europe's fastest growing regions. According to the strategy of European Union the Port of Gdansk plays a significant role as a key link in the Trans-European Transport Corridor No. 6 connecting the Nordic countries with Southern and Eastern Europe.
