New cruise ship quay was opened in Port of Tallinn

On May 17th, Port of Tallinn opened a new 9.34 million euro cruise ship quay which allows larger cruise ships than before to be docked and thus increases Tallinn’s attractiveness for cruise operators. The opening of the quay was marked with the mooring of the Royal Princess, the largest cruise vessel to have ever visited Estonia so far.

The official quay opening ceremony took place on Saturday, May 17th. The quay was opened during the symbolic unmooring performed by the Board Member of Port of Tallinn Allan Kiil, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Urve Palo, the Deputy Mayor of Tallinn Taavi Aas and the head of the Estonian branch of the BMGS construction company Leho Alliksoo. Festive plaque exchanging between Harbour Master Ülo Kikas and ship’s captain Dino Sagani  also took place during the official opening. The Cruise guests  were surprised by an  exciting flyboard show.

“For the Port of Tallinn, the construction of the new quay was the largest single investment last year,” said Alan Kiil, the Board Member of Port of Tallinn. “This investment will, on the one hand, satisfy the growing demand for Tallinn as a tourist destination and, on the other hand, help us meet the needs of cruise operators that want to use larger and larger vessels.”

According to Urve Palo, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications, there is still potential for the increase in the numbers of cruise tourists on the Baltic Sea resulting from the joint marketing of Tallinn and other cruise destinations of the Baltic Sea, which will obviously affect the economy of the tourist destinations.

“Tallinn is one of the top destinations in the Baltics, that is very highly regarded by the visitors arriving here onboard the cruise ships,” said Ms. Palo. “According to a survey, performed by consulting company G.P.Wild, cruise tourists are very happy with Tallinn and highly appreciate friendliness of the locals, service in stores and historical attractions of the city.”

Minister Palo stated that the  close cooperation with destination ports and other service providers is crucial to meet the expectations by cruise tourists and operators. “The Port of Tallinn has an excellent working relationship and several joint ventures with the ports in the Baltic sea and such cooperation positions the region also in future as one of the top destinations for cruise tourists.”

The construction of the new quay next to the existing cruise ships quay in the Old City harbour started in May 2013. The total length of the quay built by the Estonian branch of BMGS is 421 metres; it is 20 metres wide, and the guaranteed depth at the quay wall is 11 metres. The cruise ship quay has also been outfitted with electricity supply, outdoor lighting, communications equipment and pipelines for supplying ships with utility water and removing waste water.With the new quay, Port of Tallinn is able to moor cruise ships up to 340 metres in length, up to 42 metres in width, and with the draft of up to nine metres. The first vessel that moored at the new cruise ship quay was the 330-metre long Royal Princess, operated by Princess Cruises. On the quay opening day the ship brought over 3,000 tourists to Tallinn.

The volume of bottom dredging amounted to a total of 12,300 cubic metres, and over 200 steel piles 30–46 metres in length were installed in the seabed in the course of the construction. The total amount of concrete cast for the construction purposes was 6,600 cubic metres.

During this cruise season Tallinn is to welcome around 300 vessels bringing approximately 470,000 cruise tourists to the capital of Estonia. The summer cruise season lasts until 26 September, but cruise tourists are also expected to visitTallinn in October and December.