Two premieres in one: Maiden call of the “AIDAsol” at the new cruise terminal in Altona

Hamburg. The “AIDAsol”, AIDACruises’ newest ship, arrived in the Port of Hamburg on the 1st of April 2011, and was the first ship to be operated at the new cruise terminal in Altona.

The “AIDAsol” docked at the Hamburg Cruise Center Altona at around 8.00 in the morning, accompanied by water sprays from the fire boat. To keep the tradition, Jörg Pollmann, Captain of the Port, presented an admiralty plaque to the captain of the “AIDAsol”, Captain Detlef Harms. This official welcoming ceremony to mark a maiden call is intended as a sign of the close links between the ship and the port. The “AIDAcara” docked just 2km upstream on the same day, at the Hamburg Cruise Center HafenCity. Both ships left at around 20.00. The “AIDAcara” headed for the West Atlantic coast, while the “AIDAsol” set course for Kiel, where she will later be christened.

“The cruise terminal in Altona is needed urgently,” said Gerd Drossel, Managing Director of Hamburg Cruise Center e.V., “because the dynamic growth trend will also continue in coming years. We expect 119 ship’s calls in the 2011 cruise season, an increase of 14.4 percent over the previous year.” The steadily growing size of ships will see the total number of passengers passing the 300 000 mark. “With two-figure growth also expected for 2012 we can realistically expect 400 000 passengers in that year; 2015 may even see us passing the half a million threshold,” continued Drossel.

The terminal building’s architecture is of the highest quality, fitting perfectly into the “pearl necklace” stretching along the Elbe’s banks in Altona. The key task when designing the outdoor areas was to achieve a balance between the logistics and security requirements of a modern passenger processing operation with the quality demands of a public urban development project. The extension of the Elbe hiking trail past the building’s southern façade, which makes use of the publically accessible roof, has created a new public space in this location and, for the first time, provided a high quality link between the footpaths connecting the “pearl necklace” and the buildings around the former wood harbour. Inside the terminal building there will be a small café, which will also be open outside of the times when passengers are being processed.

The official inauguration of the Hamburg Cruise Center Altona is planned to include an open day on Sunday, 5 June 2011. All Hamburg residents are cordially invited to get to know the cruise terminal at close quarters from 11.00 to 16.00. The accompanying programme for adults and children will make this an event for all the family.