International cruise season at Port of HaminaKotka to start in May

In the new season, the Port of HaminaKotka will be visited by both ships that make their inaugural call and ships that have already called several times.

The Port of HaminaKotka is looking confidently at the new cruise season, during which 13 ships are expected to visit the port and the region based on current information. The season will be opened by the Balmoral of the cruise line Fred Olsen, making its inaugural call in Kotka at Kantasatama on May 18th. The cruise business market is still in transition, so there can be changes to the number of calls.

Under normal circumstances, St. Petersburg has been the main destination for cruise ships in the Baltic Sea, but after it is no longer included in the routes of cruise ships, other cruise ports in the Baltic Sea have increased their marketing efforts towards international cruise lines. Port of HaminaKotka has also enhanced its marketing co-operation with other Baltic cruise ports in order to attract cruise ships.

“One of the shared assets of the ports of HaminaKotka, Helsinki, Tallinn and Stockholm is that they are all located close to each other, which saves fuel costs for the cruise lines. Still, each of these places is unique and offers international cruise guests many from eachother different types of experiences,” says Petra Cranston, Project Manager, Cruise Business,

of Port of HaminaKotka Ltd.

In addition to making preparations for the upcoming cruise season, there is also constant work for any subsequent years.

“In terms of future seasons, we are following the pre-set objectives. According to estimates drawn up by analysts, the market disturbances are expected to be corrected on the eastern Baltic Sea in 2025, which would mean that international cruise traffic would return to the level of 2019, to the status of preCOVID 19,” says Petra Cranston.

One part of the exercise was to recover oil-stained birds. (Photograph: Port of HaminaKotka Ltd)