Captain Kjell Holm and his crew were officially welcomed afterwards by Cathy Kietzer, the President of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital. During an on-board reception she presented the traditional First Call plaque and the Guest Flag of the City
of Kiel. “It’s a big day for our port”, said Cathy Kietzer. “We are delighted that the maiden voyage of “Mein Schiff 2″ has brought her to us, here in the Kiel fiord. Kiel is the perfect turnaround port for cruises in northern Europe”. This is the third year in a row that Kiel has been the base port for TUI Cruises in northern Europe. “Mein Schiff 2” will set out from the Ostseekai Terminal a total of twelve times up to the start of September for cruises to the biggest cities on the Baltic, along the Norwegian fiords and to the North Cape and also Spitzbergen. Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) said “cruise shipping in Germany has never before been in such demand as it is now. Port locations on the North Sea and the Baltic all profit from every additional ship that goes into service on the growing German market”. “Mein Schiff 2”, named on May 14th this year, was completed at the Meyer Shipyard for Celebrity Cruises in 1997 as “Mercury”. Of 77,700 GT, she is 265 m long and can accommodate 1,900 passengers. This evening, she leaves Kiel for Bergen in Norway. The SEEHAFEN KIEL operates Kiel’s commercial port on behalf of the Schleswig- Holstein state capital, of which it is a 100% subsidiary. It boasts a total of three modern terminals for ferry and cruise ships at the Ostseekai, Schwedenkai and Norwegenkai – all of them close to the city centre. Inside just five years, with the support of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein and the EU, in excess of 60 million Euros have been invested in the expansion of port facilities. This year, Kiel is, once again, the most popular turnaround port in Germany for cruise ships. Up to the end of the season, there will be 119 calls by 18 different cruise ships and more than 360,000 passengers will either board or leave a cruise ship in the port.