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Wednesday, 28 November 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The super luxury passenger vessel MV Mein Schif 3 of TUI Cruises with 2,430 passengers and 995 crew on board made her maiden call at the Port of Colombo on 26 November. The vessel was welcomed at the East Container Terminal (ECT) of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
In order to mark the maiden call of the vessel at the Port of Colombo plaque exchanges were held between the Master of the vessel, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and the local agents of the vessel, Shipping Agency Services Ltd. On behalf of SLPA, Chairman Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake exchanged plaques with the Master of Mein Schiff 3 – Capt. Alevropoulos George.
Expressing views at the occasion, SLPA Chairman Dr. Parakrama Dissanayake said that the Port of Colombo was honoured by the presence of Mein Shiff 3 in Colombo. “The Port of Colombo has become an extremely busy port and this year the port also became the fastest growing port in the world in terms of handling containers. The next area we are focusing is the passenger vessels and we have plans to construct a state-of-the-art passenger terminal at the Port of Colombo,” he said.
TUI Cruises is a Germany-based, joint venture cruise line of the German Tourist firm, TUI AG and the American cruise line operator, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The company commenced operations in 2009 targeting German clientele, as an alternative to AIDA Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd cruises.
The concept is for German-speaking customers who opt for a premium cruise experience. Onboard products are custom-tailored for German tastes and encompasses food, entertainment and amenities. German is the main language used onboard their ships.
Mein Schiff 3 is approximately 295 meters long and approximately 36 meters (118 ft.) wide. The ship has 1250 staterooms, most of which have balconies, with a capacity of 2,500 passengers and a crew of 1,000. The ship includes several restaurants, a theatre, spa and nightclub. TUI Group has announced that as part of their modernisation strategy, Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 would be transferred to Thomson Cruises over the next few years, as a result, two replacement ships Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 were ordered. This year on 15 January, Mein Schiff 5 was launched and subsequently on 28 April, Mein Schiff 6 was laid down.
This ship, Mein Schiff 3 has commenced its voyage from Europe during the month of May. She has touched many ports in Europe over the last couple of months and thereafter cruises towards south Asia thru the Suez Canal touching some ports in the UAE.
The vessel that cruises under the flag of Malta called Colombo from Mumbai, India and her next Phuket, Thailand is her next port of call.
The officials of the higher management of Sri Lanka Ports Authority, including the Managing Director Capt. Athula Hewawitharana, Additional Managing Director Upali De Zoya, the officials of the local agents Shipping Agency Services Ltd. including the Managing Director Gihan Nanayakkara, Deputy General Manager Dakshan Jayasinghe and Operations Executive Niroshan Davidson were also present at the occasion.
