The Port of Cadiz expects the arrival tomorrow of 4 large cruise ships carrying a total of 17,264 people, including passengers and crew, surpassing all records registered to date for a single day.
The need for berthing space to accommodate these four ships has led the Port Authority to set up a special operation, which has been underway for several weeks, in order to serve not only the cruise ships, but also to reconcile this activity with the rest of the traffic and with the temporary occupation of the Ciudad dock.
The berths will be arranged as follows: The 272-meter-long Aurora will dock at the Ciudad pier and will be the first to moor. The second to moor will be the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ship, the Independence of the Seas , the largest at 339 meters in length and also the most maneuverable, boasting 102,816 hp and four 4,623 hp bow thrusters. In this case, the turning maneuver is planned to take place in the outer harbor, and the ship will moor at the Marqués de Comillas pier, bollards 24-44. Following this, the 330-meter-long Britannia will arrive . Given its size, it is expected that the vessel will also perform the turning maneuver in the outer harbor and will be moored port side to the Alfonso XIII dock, between bollards 4 and 23. This will facilitate its departure maneuver, with its bow facing towards Punta de San Felipe. Finally, the Disney Magic will dock , possibly also berth port side to the Reina Sofía dock, between bollards 24 and 42.
These vessels will also require the following port operations:
- Bus entrance to the port area and parking near each ship for passengers who have booked excursions.
- Shuttle bus service from the Marqués de Comillas dock to the maritime station located at the Ciudad dock, for passengers visiting the city of Cádiz, with service from the ship's gangway to the door of the maritime station, supervised by the Port Police service, the Civil Guard and the Border Police.
- Passengers on ships docking at the Alfonso XIII and Reina Sofía piers will depart and arrive via the maritime station at the Alfonso XIII Pier.
- Entrance of trucks that remove solid and liquid waste, sludge, etc. from ships, in compliance with the Marpol Convention.
- Absolute coordination between the ship agents, Port Operations and the Port Police service.
The ships will depart in the following order: The first to leave will be the Independence of the Seas. The second, the Britannia. The third, the Disney Magic, and the last to leave will be the Aurora. The departures will be staggered to facilitate the various maneuvers.
