More than 450 international cruise ships are expected to stop in Taiwan next year, when it fully waives passenger fees at some commercial ports, Taiwan International Port Corp (TIPC) said yesterday.
The state-run seaport management company said that it has been meeting with the international cruise ship operators in Singapore, Malaysia, Europe and Japan since the government reopened borders and lifted the ban on international cruise ship tours at the end of last year.
In April, the company’s management met with executives of Carnival Corp, Norwegian Cruise Line and Holland America Line during the Seatrade Cruise Global in Miami, Florida, the world’s largest cruise trade conference, it said.
Photo: CNA
Last week, they also attended the Asia Cruise Forum in South Korea’s Jeju Island to promote Taiwan’s commercial seaports, it added. This year, the company has waived the dockage fee and granted a 30 percent discount on passenger service charges as incentives to attract international cruise ships, it said.
Next year, the company would fully waive the passenger service fee if a cruise ship makes at least five calls at the ports of Keelung, Kaohsiung and Magong (馬公), it said.
The fee would also be waived if a cruise ship makes at least three calls at the Port of Hualien and at least two calls at the ports of Taipei, Taichung, Anping (安平) and Suao (蘇澳), it added.
This year, 289 cruise ships are scheduled to stop at Taiwanese seaports, the company said.
With the full waiver of the passenger service charge, the number of cruise ships that make stops in Taiwan could reach 450 next year, about 70 percent of the 2019 level, it said.
“We have noticed that smaller expedition ships have increased stops in Taiwan, including Hanseatic Nature of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. These ships account for about 15 percent of the vessels at the ports, and the number is growing,” the company said.
Resorts World One of Resorts World Cruises are this year operating cruises between Hong Kong and Kaohsiung, while MSC Bellissima of MSC Cruises has plans to offer trips between Keelung and Okinawa next year, the company said.
Norwegian Spiritof Norwegian Cruise Line plans to offer cruise ship tours in Taiwan from June to September next year, with the Port of Keelung being the home port, it said.
Nippon Maru is planning to operate from Japan to the Port of Kaohsiung on New Year’s Eve next year, the company said, adding that French cruise ship Le Ponant and Holland America Line are drafting plans for trips to Taiwan.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
RSS