Region
Asia
Local Time
2020-12-15 08:30
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is reportedly working on protocols for “cruises to nowhere” to begin operating in Singapore, according to a report earlier this week from The Straits Times. Genting Cruise Lines is a division of Genting Hong Kong comprising of three distinct cruise brands – Star Cruises, Dream Cruises and Crystal Cruises – providing a range of products from contemporary cruises to ultra-luxurious vacation experiences spanning the sea to air.
We, agent, of Aegean Paradise, have been serving former cruise, M/V Leisure World for more than twenty years and now we are glad to have the honour to represent the new cruise M/V Aegean Paradise as one of their agent. We believe in providing reliable, fast and satisfaction service to our valuable customers. Holland America Enter the stunning casinos on Holland America Line and be dazzled by what they have to offer. This cruise line offers lessons for beginners, and it welcomes experienced players. The casinos offer a wide variety of table games including Blackjack, Texas Hold ’em, and many more. The gambling cruise industry of Singapore appears to be making a comeback after being hit hard with competition in 2010, when two new luxury resorts opened in the city-state. According to a report by the asiagamblingbrief.com, the locals of Singapore are beginning to visit the casino cruise ships once again, in part to avoid the S$100 entrance.
Port Singapore, along with its 2 cruise terminals, also has passenger ferry terminals and drydock facilities for marine vessel refurbishments and repairs. The port is ranked world’s 2nd biggest containership cargo port (following Shanghai). In 2013, here were handled 32,24 million TEUs (containers) - slightly behind Shanghai's 33,62 million.
Singapore City is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia, with total area 719 km2 (278 ml2) and population over 5,7 million. Identified as a tax haven, Singapore is a global finance, commerce and transhipment hub. The country is ranked top international-meetings city (UIA), city with 'best investment potential' (BERI), most 'technology-ready' nation (WEF), 2nd-most competitive country (after China), 4th-largest financial centre (after NYC, London City, Hong Kong), 11th-largest foreign exchange market, 7th-largest oil refining centre (ExxonMobil Singapore), 2nd-largest container port (after Shanghai).
Port Singapore features an excellent infrastructure, outstanding cruise facilities, strategic location. It is known as the gateway to Southeast Asia and is an ideal homeport for exotic itineraries to multiple Asian countries with convenient short-break roundtrips. Among the regularly visirted destinations are seaports and islands in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam.
Port's largest container terminal (COSCO-PSA / CPT) is operated by a joint venture between COSCO SHIPPING Ports (CSP) and PSA Singapore (part of PSA International Corporation). As of 2019, CPT has 5 mega-boxship berths (all automated), with annual capacity 5 million TEUs. COSCO-PSA was established in 2003. On May 13, 2019, was inaugurated Magenta Singapore Terminal - joint venture of ONE (Ocean Network Express) and PSA Singapore. The new Pasir Panjang Terminal has 4 mega-berths and combined annual capacity 4 million TEUs. The longterm ONE-PSA partnership was officially announced in December 2018.
When completed, the new Tuas Terminal (container port) will add 21 million TEUs capacity to port's current 32,3 million TEUs. This is a 3-party joint venture company (Penta-Ocean Construction, Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and Boskalis International). The project was started in 2018 and is to be built in 4 phases on 387 hectares reclaimed land with 8,6 km wharf (constructed with 227 on-site fabricated caissons). By 2040, all Port Singapore container shipping operations will be consolidated at Tuas Terminal, which will have projected annual max TEU capacity 65 million.
In 2017, the port handled 421 ship calls and around 1,38 million cruise passengers - an increase (over 2016) of 3% and 17% respectively.
On May 3, 2013, Carnival Corporation opened its Singapore office. With Costa Victoria and Costa Atlantica (2680-passenger), Carnival's local subsidiary company 'Costa Asia' doubled its regional capacity. In 2013, Costa had a total of 125 Asian cruises with total traffic over 220,000 passengers. Costa Cruises was industry's first company establishing year-round shipping operations in Asia. On the occasion of its inaugural port call (that coincided with Carnival Asia's regional office opening), on the Atlantica ship were hosted formal reception and gala dinner events. Carnival's office houses 'Carnival Asia' (managing Corporation's Asian shipping operations and market expansion). The special events on the Atlantica were attended by 300+ VIP guests, among which government officials, local dignitaries and celebrities, travel industry representatives. In May-June 2013, Atlantica sailed on 3-4-day Singapore roundtrips to Thailand and Malaysia.
On August 26, 2015, the RCI ship Legend of the Seas arrived to be once again home-ported in Singapore. The ship previously sailed on year-round roundtrip itineraries out of port Singapore in the period 2008-2013. (statistics) in 2015, the cruise port handled a total of 385 ship calls and served over 1 million passengers. In 2015, the number of Singapore citizens departing by sea was nearly 1,754 million, which accounted for 19,2% of all outbound travellers. The increase in port calls (2013-2016 period) was over 35%, The cruise port had a combined annual growth 10,6%.
In 2016, after 10 years absence, P&O Australia homeported a vessel in Singapore. Pacific Eden (now CMV Vasco de Gama) arrived on July 30. and operated a total of 5 roundtrips to ports in Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand. The ship was based at SCC HarbourFront Terminal.
On March 20, 2016, the AIDA Cruises newest ship AIDAprima docked in Singapore (Sembawang Shipyard) during her relocation itinerary from Nagasaki to Hamburg. In June 2016, during the Ovation of the Seas maiden port call, RCI representatives announced the ship will be homeported for its 2017 season in Singapore. Adding the large-sized Ovation to Voyager of the Seas (May 2017) and Mariner of the Seas (October 2017) increases the line’s passenger capacity in Southeast Asia by 30% over 2016. Ovation added around 42,000 passengers to the cruise port's volumes. The ship operated on 3- to 5-night roundtrips to Penang (Malaysia), Phuket and Laem Chabang (Bangkok) Thailand.
In January 2017, Dream Cruises announced that their newest ship Genting Dream (151,300 GT tons) will be homeported in Singapore in 2018. Between early December 2017 and late March 2018, the ship operated on a series of 5-night roundtrips (Sunday departures) combined with 2-night weekend mini-cruises to destinations in Strait of Malacca and Java Sea. Passengers also had the choice to combine Strait of Malacca and Java Sea voyages into a 12-night B2B cruise, with the option of spending the weekend either onboard or in a Singapore hotel. Between April and October 2018, the ship's schedule had destinations in South China Sea and Java Sea.
In July 2017, at Clifford Pier was celebrated the 'Royal Caribbean Cruises Asia' company's 10th anniversary. The special ceremony was attended by over 150 VIP guests representing Asian media, government officials, RCCL travel partners. The first RCI ship homeported in Asia was Rhapsody of the Seas (2007). For season 2017-2018, RCI had scheduled its longest ship deployment in Singapore - a total of 72 roundtrip itineraries.
On January 22, 2018, at the cruise port ROyal Caribbean welcomed the company's 1 millionth passenger embarking in Singapore. The 52-yo Singaporean boarded Mariner of the Seas. At the ship's gangway, he was welcomed and cheered by RCI crew and staff. To celebrate the occasion, he was taken to the Viking Crown Lounge, where was greeted by Captain Claus Andersen. He was also presented with prize package worth of over USD 2400.
On March 5, 2018, CLIA and STB signed a 3-year partnership aimed at boosting the industry in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The project included conducting professional travel agent training in priority Asian markets (Indonesia, Malaysia, India) for improving sales skills and overall destination knowledge. The partnership leveraged CLIA's training capabilities and STB's travel agency networks.
In 2019, RCI has company's ever biggest Asian season, with 3 liners (Voyager, Quantum, Spectrum) and total 78 itineraries leaving roundtrip from Singapore. The deployment also served the planned drydocks in Singapore of Voyager OTS and Quantum OTS. Singapore as port destination is among the most attractive to Chinese travellers due to the offered numerous short-breaks (around 80% of all voyages are 3-4-night itineraries) and affordable pre- and post-cruise hotel packages.
In late-September 2017, the company FueLNG (Keppel-Shell joint venture) completed its first commercial LNG bunkering in Port Singapore. The truck-to-ship LNG ('liquefied natural gas') bunker transfer was for the vessel Floating Liquefaction. The LNG bunkering operation was carried out in the period July 22 - September 23 (2017). LNG as ship fuel completely removes SOx and soot particles and reduces NOx (85%) and CP2 emissions (20%).
In June 2018, a shore-to-ship drone delivery service was introduced in Port Singapore via partnership between Airbus and Wilhelmsen Ships Service. Deliveries are made to anchored ships and include mainly essential spare parts, documentation, consumables, medical supplies, water testing kits, cash. The system is based on Skyways (Airbus unmanned drones) and a pier-based command center. Delivery range is up to 3 km (2 ml) from the shoreline. A second station is positioned in Marina South, extending delivery coverage to anchored vessels.
In 2019, Princess Cruises homeported here two liners - Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess.
Singapore has one of the most booked cruise ship repair and refurbishment yards. The facility is owned and operated by Sembcorp Marine. Among shipyard's regular customers are Carnival Corporation (P&O Australia, Carnival, Holland America, Princess), RCCL (Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines), Star Clippers, also the Asian lines Star Cruises (Genting), Dream Cruises (Genting), Jalesh-Zen Cruises (India).
Drydock projects are handled at Sembcorp Marine's shipyards 'Tuas Boulevard' and 'Admiralty'. Both facilities have large and deepwater drydocks with capacities to serve world's largest passenger liners. In the period 2008-2018, Sembcorp Marine was contracted for 102 cruise ship drydocking projects, averaging 10 vessels per year. In 2018 were completed 10 drydocks, in 2017 - 16, in 2016 - 9.
Provided by Sembcorp Marine services include shiprepairs, refurbishments, retrofitting, life-extension and specialized projects. Other major projects are vessel conversions and upgrades of offshore platforms, gas carriers, cruise ships, ferries, mega-yachts, oil tankers, containerships, cargo carriers. Shiprepair services include afloat and emergency repairs, underwater repairs, hull cleaning, engine maintenance and repairs, electrical-instrumentation-mechanical repairs, pipe and steelworks, tank cleaning, waste disposal, equipment and specialists providers, staging works, towage.
In May 2019, Sembcorp Marine completed the construction of SSCV Sleipnir - world's biggest/strongest semi-submersible crane vessel. It features two revolving cranes (with combined lifting capacity 20,000 tons / 10K tons each), lifting height 175 m (574 ft), reinforced deck area sized 220x102 m (722x335 ft) and 400 berths (personnel). This is also world's first dual-fuel SSCV (semi-submersible crane vessel) which engines are fueled by both MGO (marine gasoil) and LNG (liquefied natural gas). The SSCV was designed for assembly works at offshore platforms (oil-gas-wind turbines) and also vessel decommissioning projects. It was built at Sembcorp's Tuas Boulevard Yard for Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) - 1948-founded company, subsidiary of Heerema International Group Services SA. SSCV Sleipnir's construction involved 3700 workers (single-shift).
On August 17, 2015, RCI-Royal Caribbean International signed with STB (Singapore Tourism Board, under Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry) and CAG (Changi Airport Group, Singapore airport operations and management) a multi-million dollar marketing campaign to promote cruise vacations on Singapore-homeported ships. The campaign targeted RCI's overseas customers with Singapore fly-cruise deals from USA, Australia and Europe. Campaign's period was 2015-2018, with estimated over 170,000 international passengers flying to Singapore on RCI fly-cruises. The projected Asian market growth was over 50% as the series of marketing campaigns also targeted Asian passengers (flying from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea).
In October 2018, Costa Cruises signed a separate tripartite agreement with STB and CAG. The Costa-Singapore deal was for 2019-2022 and targeting over 100,000 international tourists.
Singapore's Changi Airport is connected with direct flights to 320+ cities worldwide. Operating around 6700 flights weekly, the airport is among Asia's major fly-cruise travel hubs. In 2019, Changi Airport launched an intermodal luggage transfer service (from the airport directly to the ship) for fly-cruisers arriving in Singapore and boarding here cruise ships and ferries. This service benefits mainly tourists arriving from China, India and Southeast Asia.
In April 2020 was signed a USD 10 million partnership between EMA (Energy Market Authority) and Keppel O&M (Offshore & Marine) for developing (and completion by 2023) a floating Energy Storage System. The project is based on Keppel’s 'Floating Living Lab' (7,5 MW lithium-ion battery power storage) with daily capacity to power 600+ 4-room apartments.
Follows a list of destinations visited by cruise ships leaving out of Singapore
'Project Orient Limited' (POL) plans to build two ocean cruise liners for a regular passenger shipping service between Europe/UK and Australia (Southampton - Sydney). The scheduled itinerary will be 26 days in one direction (Southampton to Sydney, and the reverse Sydney to Southampton). The included ports of call are Fremantle (at the 20-day mark), also Dubai, Mumbai (India) and Singapore. Each of the STX France-built ships will be 200,000 GT tons and with capacity 1600 pax. The expected cruise pricing starts from around GBP 2900 per person (one-way).
In early-October 2020, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) started developing new health and safety protocols to allow cruises to nowhere - itineraries leaving roundtrip from Singapore and with no call ports along the route.
The new proposal came after Singapore Airlines announced in September that they would offer 3-hour 'flights to nowhere' (sightseeing roundtrips) from Singapore's Changi Airport. However, Singapore Airlines later cancelled the program due to active criticism from local environmental campaigners.
STB hired DNV-GL (Hovic Norway-based risk management company and accredited registrar and classification society) to create a compliance and certification scheme to help passenger shipping companies who want to restart voyages out of Port Singapore as the country was still in lockdown due to the Coronavirus crisis.
STB's Regional Director of the Americas (Rachel Loh) advised that the companies (ship operators and shipowners) would need to pass an audit for certification to return to cruising plus the ships would be allowed to accommodate only 1/2 of their max passenger capacity for the first 3 months of operation.
There is no official date for when 'Singapore cruises to nowhere' will commence but all operators homeporting in Singapore were eager to restart operations after voluntarily ceasing voyages since March 2020.
Newest Singapore cruise port terminal is officially named 'Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore' (abbrev MBCCS). Aka 'International Cruise Terminal', the facility is located next to Marina South Pier.
Currently, MBCCS terminal has 1 pier with 2 berths, docking capacity two 220,000-ton liners (simultaneously) and max passenger capacity 6800 (at a time).
Other signature facilities in Singapore Harbor (some still under construction) are Marina Bay Financial Centre (abbrev MBFC /3 office towers, 2 residential towers, 1 retail space), Marina Bay Sands (casino property developed by Las Vegas Sands), Singapore Flyer (giant Ferris wheel), Esplanade Park (waterfront area overlooking Singapore River), Gardens by the Bay (nature park of 101 hectares / 250 acres).
The Singapore's Marina Bay Cruise Centre (aka International Cruise Terminal, abbrev MBCCS) is a new cruise ship terminal located next to Marina South Pier. At construction cost USD 500 million, the terminal's constructing project started in October 2009 and was completed on 22nd May, 2012.
The first cruise ship to visit the new terminal was the Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas (calling on May 26, 2012). The new terminal's opening ceremony was on October 22, 2012.
In October 2018, MBCCS revealed its plans to use “Smart Terminal Solution” technology to better handle the increasing passenger and ship traffic. By year 2035, Southeast Asia is expected to receive up to 4,5 million cruise passengers annually. The new technology manages big data by using smart sensors, central command-and-control system, and video analytics, and offers:
Singapore has an excellent MRT (subway system) with numerous stations.
In Singapore Harbor are located HarbourFront Terminal (Marina Bay Cruise Centre), and also Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal. The cruise terminal is located close to signature attractions, including:
Port Singapore cruise ship schedule shows timetable calendars of all arrival and departure dates by month. The port's schedule lists all ships (in links) with cruises going to or leaving from Singapore. To see the full itineraries (ports of call dates and arrival / departure times) and their lowest rates – just follow the corresponding ship-link.
Day | Ship | Arrival | Departure |
---|---|---|---|
19 December, 2020 Saturday | Costa Mediterranea | 20:00 | |
26 December, 2020 Saturday | Costa Mediterranea | 09:00 | 20:00 |
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