An extraordinary day today at the Catania port with the simultaneous presence of two large cruise ships of the German company TUI Cruises, Mein Schiff 6 and Mein Schiff 2, with their 4,400 passengers and 1,800 crew members.
It had not happened since 2016, while it would be necessary to go back to 2013 to find the simultaneous presence in port of three large ships.
The Mein Schiff 6, the latest addition to the TUI fleet, moored for the first time today at the docks of the Etna port and, as usual, it was held on board the Placque Exchange Ceremony, with the presence of several representatives of the Authorities and local institutions.
The President of the Port Network Authority of the Eastern Sicilian Sea, Andrea Annunziata, spoke for a long time with the Captain of the ship and the other guests, to comment, not without satisfaction, the confirmation by TUI of the Catania port as the now fixed stop on the routes of his beautiful blue ships.
In fact, there will be as many as 11 TUI ships during 2018, for a total of almost 25,000 passengers, which, together with those of the other companies, will exceed the 100,000 guest units, making it possible to record a sharp turnaround in cruise traffic with respect to the trend of recent years.
Of particular importance is the choice of Mein Schiff 2 to stop in Catania for two days, to leave for Malta tomorrow evening, thus allowing its guests to fully experience the city and to savor even the aspects of nightlife.
The increase in cruise traffic in Catania is the tangible result of the effective promotional action carried out recently by Catania Cruise Port, which for just over a year has become part of the large network of Global Ports Holding, the most important independent operator of cruise terminals in the world, which manages a portfolio of 15 ports in 7 countries and has a consolidated presence in the Mediterranean, in the Atlantic and in the Asia-Pacific regions, including some important commercial ports in Turkey and Montenegro.
With the arrival of Global Ports, the already intense and fruitful collaborative relationships both with the Port System Authority of the Eastern Sicily Sea and with the Municipality of Catania have been further consolidated and will allow further and interesting results to be achieved.
