A historic event took place in Cádiz on September 10th
Article from CruisesNews magazine , issue 46 – ICS 2018 special edition
The Norwegian cruise line Fred Olsen decided to bring its entire fleet of cruise ships together in Cádiz, putting both the port and the city to the test in a globally significant event that resulted in a resounding success for the port of Cádiz.
The four Fred Olsen Cruise Lines ships met in Cádiz on September 10th, marking a historic milestone.
This historic Norwegian shipping company was celebrating its 170th anniversary this year and chose to mark the occasion in the port of Cádiz. Cádiz's magnificent port facilities are among the few in the world that can accommodate four cruise ships docking side-by-side, not just close together, providing a clear competitive advantage.
Like the Norwegian shipping company, Cadiz faces the future hand in hand with cruises.
Following the initial meeting in Bergen, Norway, in July 2015, the "Captains in Cádiz" event saw the Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca, and Black Watch arrive that Monday at the Ciudad dock of the Spanish port just before 8:00 a.m. They were the guests of honor at the Alfonso XIII, Ciudad, and Reina Sofía docks, centuries-old quays that welcomed a fleet belonging to a shipowner whose origins date back to the second half of the 19th century, the same era that saw the birth of the modern port of Cádiz.
This event was planned for over two years by the shipowner in collaboration with the Port Authority and various institutions in Cádiz and Andalusia. It allowed the more than 4,000 passengers, guests of Gades, to explore the streets of old Cádiz, visit the ships of the Fred Olsen fleet, participate in the "Siege of Cádiz" themed treasure hunt, watch and even participate in flamenco dance performances and live music, and sample tapas and local products. A historic city like Cádiz offers many ways to experience it: historical, cultural, recreational, and active. That's why Fred Olsen chose it to bring its fleet together. This decision places Cádiz on par with Bergen (which hosted the entire Fred Olsen fleet for the first time in 2015), Lisbon, Liverpool, and Southampton (which welcomed all of Cunard's Queen-class ships in 2014, 2015, and 2018, respectively), or Sydney (where the five ships of the P&O Australia fleet gathered in November 2015). However, none of these cities offer the proximity between ships that Cádiz provides, making it a benchmark for this type of event.
Cádiz: at the forefront of organizing cruise ship fleet meetings.
The celebration also allowed the eight captains of the fleet to meet with the shipping company's executives, including the company's president, Fred Olsen Junior, a descendant of the company's founder, and CEO Mike Rodwell. Later, the eight captains, along with the company's directors, joined the mayor of Cádiz, the president of the Port Authority, and other local dignitaries at a welcoming ceremony, including the exchange of plaques, which concluded with a VIP reception aboard the Balmoral to commemorate the occasion.
It was the second time in history that the entire Fred Olsen fleet had been in the same place at the same time.
The docks where the Trasatlántica ships docked on their way to America were then witnesses to a constant coming and going of British tourists, crew members of all nationalities, who wanted to enjoy a holiday in Cádiz.
But the best was yet to come. At 5 p.m., as the tugboats fired their water cannons at full power, the four ships left the port together, serenaded by a local jazz band. They sailed under the new 1812 Constitution Bridge in line formation, like a fleet of warships that had set sail from La Carraca two centuries earlier. And then they set sail for all corners of the globe: the Braemar, built in Valencia, sailed for Southampton; the Boudicca headed for Ibiza, a stopover on its way to the Indian Ocean; and both the Balmoral and the Black Watch set course for Lisbon. Perhaps this was the best metaphor for Cádiz's efforts to become a home port for cruise ships.
Cadiz cruise port
Fred Olsen, in its origins, was a shipping company dedicated to cargo ships, with special links with the Canary Islands, and ferries.
Today, the focus is on cruises and energy. Cádiz is also redesigning its future, and cruises are one of the pillars of its port. Like the Norwegian cruise line, Cádiz is facing the future hand in hand with cruises. Cádiz's cruise activity is not a flash in the pan, even with the arrival of Fred Olsen's entire fleet. In 2018, the number of port calls grew by 20%, reaching 190, and passenger numbers increased by 18%, reaching 249,127, in the first eight months of the year compared to 2017. If the Port Authority's forecasts are met and another 128 cruise ships arrive in transit during the last four months of the year, the number of port calls in 2018 would exceed 320, setting a new annual record. Cádiz has a cruise terminal at the Alfonso XIII dock, with an area of 1,300 m2, as well as another at the Ciudad dock of almost 500 m2. Both have been managed by the company Cádiz Cruise Terminal since 2013.
The Ciudad dock will soon become the cruise ship dock. Bulk cargo is already located in the Cabezuela dock. And the relocation of the container terminal frees up the Reina Sofía dock, meaning that approximately one kilometer of quays will be reserved exclusively for cruise ships. The future potential of this traffic is significant.
Navantia Cádiz and Major Repairs
Another key pillar of Cádiz's rise in the cruise industry is its shipyard. Long gone are the days when enormous supertankers rolled off its slipways. Now, Navantia's Cádiz shipyard specializes in the maintenance and modernization of cruise ships, boasting one of the largest repair docks in Europe (Dock No. 4, measuring 386 x 66 meters and with a DWT of 440,000). Navantia in Cádiz also offers over 3,000 meters of quay with a draft of more than nine meters, essential for receiving large cruise ships, as well as storage capacity for up to 800 containers, along with a 1,000 m² covered warehouse available to shipowners.
Carnival Corp will land at Navantia Cadiz with two major cruise ship transformations valued at more than $200 million each.
It also boasts a strategic location between European and Caribbean shipping routes, an excellent climate, and a large and specialized auxiliary industry in the bay.
The client list up to 2018 was already spectacular, with several transformations carried out on the megaships of Royal Caribbean, its best client. The latest of these, on the Mariner of the Seas, completed this past spring, represented an investment of more than $120 million. Disney Cruise Lines also modernized its sister ships, the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, in Cádiz.
The City Dock will offer more than a kilometer of exclusive docks for cruise ships.
But the best is yet to come for the Cádiz shipyards. The world's largest cruise line has begun to invest in Cádiz, choosing to refurbish the Carnival Triumph in 2019 and the Carnival Victory in 2020 at its shipyard, both valued at over $200 million. And why not dream of cruise ships being built in Puerto Real in the future? In an environment of saturated order books at major European cruise ship shipyards, its infrastructure is perfectly adequate, and its experience in refurbishments is a valuable asset.
Cádiz offers history, gastronomy, excursions, port infrastructure, shipyards. Who offers more?
