Throughout this year and part of next year, the Cartagena Port Authority will expand the docking pier to accommodate, from March 2017, the largest existing passenger ships, adapting to the needs of the large shipping companies that operate worldwide.
The sector has experienced a notable increase in recent years in the number of ships and passengers arriving at the Alfonso XII dock terminal. This year, 127 port calls are scheduled. Ships such as the 'Thomson Celebration', 'Wind Surf', 'Vision of the Seas', and 'National Gulf Orion' will call at the port.
The cruise industry's trend of building increasingly larger and longer ships led the Cartagena Port Authority to consider, at the beginning of last year, increasing the length of the cruise terminal's berth. Currently, it measures 522 meters, allowing two 250-meter-long cruise ships to dock. The proposed 144-meter extension would permit simultaneous calls by two 300-meter cruise ships.
The works are scheduled to be completed in time for the start of next year's cruise season and are expected to last for the following 14 months. Their progress will not disrupt cruise ship docking or cause any inconvenience to passengers, the boats belonging to the fishermen's guild, or those moored in the Yacht Port and the yacht and megayacht basin.
