Carnival Corporation officially took over management of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Cruise Terminal yesterday in a simple ceremony. Pedro Suárez, President of the Port Authority, handed over the keys to the port infrastructure to Carnival Corporation Vice President Michel Nestour, thus beginning a 30-year concession.
Michel Nestour, speaking in Spanish, expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome "the port of Santa Cruz has given us," praising the city as a great place to live. He added that this concession for the terminal "strengthens the company's position worldwide." The island's president, Carlos Alonso, noted that Carnival Corporation's management of the terminal marks "a very important milestone" for the island's economy and publicly acknowledged the cruise line group.
For his part, AIDA Cruises President Félix Eichhorn stated that “the cruise line expects a successful inaugural season in the Canary Islands,” adding that the ship “AIDAnova is a milestone for the company and for the entire cruise industry, offering entirely new vacation experiences. With our ship, we will contribute to further growth in the local tourism and maritime industry.”.
After the official ceremony, all the guests boarded the “AIDAnova,” where Suárez presented Captain Boris Becker with a plaque and a bottle of wine, a gesture reciprocated by the German. The AIDAnova is the world's first cruise ship to operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG), reducing polluting emissions to minimal levels, and was also inaugurated yesterday. It refueled with LNG from the vessel Cardissa, under the agreement the group has with Shell for the supply of this fuel.
The terminal's general management is headed by Nayra Cabrera, formerly the port's commercial director, where she has spent the last 20 years of her career.
