CRUISE
including Seabourn, Saga, NCL, Star, Lindblad, Temptress, Island Cruises and Star Clipper Cruises and the National Geographic Sea Lion. The Sea Lion which will make six home port calls at Colon 2000 from November 2011 to January 2012 and is the only cruise vessel making calls at the Smithsonian Research Centre in Barro Colorado, during the Canal passage. ‘The Panama brand is largely
appreciated worldwide and the possibility to build a homeport on the Pacific side would be welcomed by all cruise lines,’ says Panama Canal administrator Alberto Aleman. ‘The country offers the advantage of two terminals, on the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans and should be the departure centre for new cruises to the Galapagos, Easter Island or Panama’s Pearl islands,’ he explains. ‘Moreover, the Canal expansion will be an additional attraction during the time of its construction,’ he adds. Nevertheless, all shipping agents explain that cruise terminal facilities must be expanded with the construction of new terminals either on the Atlantic side or the Pacific side to respond to an increasing demand from the industry, including the mega cruise vessels.
Colon 2000, which serves as homeport for Royal Caribbean, invested $12m in
C .B. Fenton & Co
(
www.cbfenton.com) is one of the oldest shipping agencies established in Panama. It represents more than 150 shipowning companies throughout the world, with agents in Europe, the United States and the major shipping capitals of the Far East and four offices located in the country, two at each terminal of the canal with the capability to provide full agency services at all ports within the Republic of Panama.
Since October 2010, C.B.Fenton & Co has moved its headquarters in Panama-Pacifico, the former Howard Air Force base transformed into an economic development area.
The Company was established in 1916 and has been owned by the same family since the retirement of the founder, Captain Charles B Fenton, in 1958, now in partnership with Adrian Holmes. ‘We pride ourselves on the personal attention that has been rendered to owners and operators over the last 95 years, providing clients with an economically priced service but without reducing the level of attention that is so important in the industry if delays and unacceptable costs are to be avoided,’ says Adrian Holmes, vice
PANAMA MARITIME REVIEW 2011/12
Cruise ship at Miraflores lock
2009 to build a dedicated 200mtr berth, in addition to its existing 100mtr pier. ‘This decision leaves us as the only cruise terminal on the Atlantic side and will bring an important increase of calls from lines such as Princess Cruises, Holland America, P&O Cruises and MSC, amongst others,’ says Colon 2000’s Terracina. In 2010, Panama Ports Co, that administers the port of Cristobal where cruise lines used to dock at Pier 6, stated that it would no longer accept cruise lines since the terminal was expanding its
C.B. Fenton & Co
president of C.B.Fenton & Co. CB Fenton has a large clientele of cruise lines amongst which Seabourn, Saga, NCL, Star, Lindblad, Temptress, Island Cruises and Star Clipper Cruises and the National Geographic Sea Lion. The Sea Lion which will make six home port calls at Colon 2000 from November 2011 to January 2012 is the only cruise vessel making calls at the Smithsonian Research Centre in Barro Colorado, during the Canal passage.
Whilst the cruise lines have seen a slight increase in the Panama Canal, regrettably there have been some noticeable cancellations in the season 2008-2009 and during the season 2009- 2010 as a result of the economic situation, although those most
expectations considering the overall cruise market. ‘We were able to maintain a healthy stake in that market and anticipate similar participation in the season 2011-2012 with two new vessels, the Seabourn Quest and the Saga Quest, making their initial transit. With the expansion of Cristobal port, the decision by Panama Ports Co that administers the port of Cristobal, to cease cruise operations on Pier 6 has forced all cruise lines to use the cruise terminal Colon 2,000 on the Atlantic coast, which is already home port for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. This change of port call has not reduced the numbers of calls,
Adrian Holmes
affected have been the smaller exploration cruise vessels whose costs of a canal passage have increased quite considerably. Due to their size there is a premium to transit the canal during daylight hours, and of course this is a high priority for the canal passage. The season 2010-2011 was up to
although ‘there has been a reduction in the numbers of transits primarily because of the
costs,’ says Holmes. PSA terminal, on the Pacific side, that began operations last July, may provide a momentary alternative to cruise ships that cannot deck in Panama since there is no cruise terminal. ‘Much will depend on how the docking movements will be performed at the location,’ says Holmes.
91
cargo operations. Since then, all cruise lines calling Pier 6 have rebooked their arrivals at Colon 2000, some of them even looking at changing routes to call Colon 2000 when there is space available to avoid interfering with RCCL and Pullmantur that both call Colon 2000 their homeport, explains Terracina. Some cruise vessels, though, like Cunard’s Queen Mary cannot call Colon 2000 where draught is below the liner’s needs. Colon 2000 provides a 100mtr pier with 11mtr draught, a passenger terminal and a
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112