Durban - At least 20 cruise vessels, including the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth, are set to dock in South Africa’s ports in the next six months.
Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) spokeswoman, Lunga Ngcobo, said on Wednesday that the first cruise liner to dock would be the MSC Sinfonia, expected in Durban on Saturday, starting the country’s six-month cruise season.
According to Ngcobo, the Sinfonia is the largest and most popular of the ships to head up the country’s annual cruise season and is based in Durban.
The Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth will dock in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Apart from Cunard and MSC, cruise liners from Oceania Cruises, Seven Sea Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Amadea, Compagnie du Ponant and Azamara Club Cruises will dock at South African ports over the next six to seven months.
Ngcobo said passenger facilities had been improved and that TNPA had improved its processes at Durban’s port to ensure quicker and improved embarkation of passengers.
“The Port of Durban is set to award its tender for the development of a new passenger terminal by February 2017,” she added.
Facilities at Cape Town’s E-berth in Duncan Dock had also been improved and would be operated by V&A Waterfront (Pty) Ltd.
African News Agency