With the Covid-19 pandemic all but over, the port of Walvis Bay can be expected to receive more visits by passenger vessels this year.
The port’s container terminal offers a dedicated cruise-vessel berth, facilitating an expansion of the cruise tourism market.
The Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) estimates that approximately 21 cruise liners visit Namibia each year.
Namport expects to receive six passenger vessels between now and May before the cruise season ends in November.
This week, the Queen Mary 2 cruise liner docked at Walvis Bay, bringing with it 2000 guests. The vessel is on its way to the Canary Islands.
The vessel has 13 decks, 1 363 cabins, and a length of 334 meters. Onboard, the vessel has 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, a theater, and a planetarium.
The arrival of Queen Mary is seen as a positive economic development for the coast, which is recovering from the negative effects of Covid-19.
Queen Mary is a British transatlantic ocean liner. She has served as the flagship of Cunard Line since succeeding Queen Elizabeth 2 in 2004.
The ship was officially named Queen Mary 2 by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 after the first RMS Queen Mary of 1936.
The vessel was floated out of her building dock 20 years ago. She is nicknamed the “Billion-dollar Ship” as she cost close to a billion dollars to build.
Statistics by Namport indicate that an estimated 20 000 tourists arrived with other major passenger vessels last year in November, December as well as early this year.
Besides passenger vessels, cargo vessel calls to ports increased by 22 percent to 1 592 in 2022, according to the Namport Annual Report on 2022.
In addition, the overall vessel gross tonnage also increased by 3.4 million tonnes or 21.6 percent. The increase in vessel calls was mainly due to the increase in petroleum, research, dry bulk, roll-on-roll-off, foreign tugs and foreign fishing vessels.
In terms of financial performance for the year ended 31st of March 2022, Namport revenue increased from N$1.485 billion in the previous financial year to N$1.690 billion representing a year on year increase of 14 percent.
The increase was underpinned by the increase in business across the group’s service lines. Group operating profit increased year on year from N$170 million to N$400 million, on the back of the improved revenue and the significant inroads from the austerity measures implemented and aimed at streamlining operational costs.
