81 cruise ships are expected at Port of Oslo this year

Oslo.Cruise line Aidamar. Photo: Paul Kleiven / NTB scanpix

May is the month when the cruise season begins in earnest in the capital. Until the end of September  over 70 cruise ships are expected to call at the Port. But the number of cruise ships who are calling at Oslo is steadily decreasing.

A total of 81 cruise vessels are expected to call at the port during the year. That’s are 27 percent fewer than last year.
In 2015,  111 cruise ships were expected the port, while in 2014  130 ships with a total of 235,500 passengers came, according to a survey made by the Port.
Anette Brække , who is the person at the Port Authority who is in charge of everything to do with cruise ships said last year that there are several reasons for the decline.
– There is a general decline in the number of calls for cruise destinations in Northern Europe and the Baltics. Some of the decline is compensated with the vessels that call at the port being larger than before, so that the reduction in the number of passengers is not as great as it otherwise would have been. According to the shipping companies the main cause of the decline both that it takes a lot of time to make the ships ready for the cruises and the large national pilot, safety and contingency fees, in addition to the new sulphur directive which came into force on 1 January 2015.

 

Source:    NTB scanpix / Norway Today