Viking Ocean Cruises has made its first visit to the port of Kiel. Escorted by a port tug with the accompaniment of a water fountain display, the company’s “Viking Sun” berthed at the Ostseekai Cruise Terminal after it's morning arrival on July 3, 2018.
During an on-board reception, Port of Kiel's Managing Director, Dr. Dirk Claus, welcomed Captain Olav Soevdsnes and presented him with the commemorative plaque awarded by the Schleswig-Holstein federal state capital to ships on their first port.
The 47,800 GT “Viking Sun”, which is 227m long and has 465 cabins, began service in 2017 and named in Shanghai in March this year. The ship is on an eleven-day Scandinavian cruise which began on June 27, 2018 in Copenhagen. After visits to Gothenburg, Oslo and Skagen, the ship reached the Kiel Fiord via Fredericia. After spending a day in Kiel the “Viking Sun” is going to head for the locks at Kiel-Holtenau prior to passing through the Kiel Canal overnight. Her end destination is Amsterdam.
“Schleswig-Holstein as a tourist destination is being taken ever more seriously by the international shipping companies”, says Dirk Claus. Following Spanish Pullmantur Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises is the second customer calling at Kiel this year for the very first time. In addition to “Viking Sun”, Kiel expects the company’s “Viking Sky” to make her maiden call towards the end of the season on October 2, 2018.
The SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG operates Kiel’s commercial port on behalf of the federal state capital Kiel, of which it is a 100% subsidiary. A total of three modern passenger terminals are available in close proximity to the city centre at Ostseekai, Norwegenkai and Schwedenkai. In addition, cruise ships can tie up at Berth 1 in the Ostuferhafen. During the 2018 season Kiel expects 165 visits by 32 different cruise ships. By the end of the season, it is expected that some 600,000 cruise ship passengers will have embarked on or disembarked from cruise ships.