Ally

Silver Cloud’s recent call at Kish Island off the Iranian coast was a first for the cruise industry, reported Aris Zarpanely at the Seatrade Middle East Cruise conference. Despite the lack of proper navigational charts for entering the port, with the help of the port captain, Silver Cloud’s master decided to take the ship alongside after a quick reconaissance trip of the berth beforehand using a tender, Zarpanely explained.

The vessel went into port stern first and landed more than 300 passengers, including around 80 North Americans, on October 31. 'They were welcomed with open arms and we will certainly return again to Iran,’ said Zarpanely.

Seatrade Insider asked the panelists to comment on Iran’s potential as a new destination for cruising. Carnival UK’s John Marden said whilst it is suitable for smaller ships (Swan Hellenic is a visitor) he felt more work was needed concerning handling arrangements for larger ships. Holland America’s Simon Douwes said whilst it would be premature for HAL ships to go to Iran currently, he did not rule it out for the future.

(Seatrade)

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10/10/2009 - Costa Classica - Grand Oriental Cruise - Shanghai, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Kobe, Naha, Keelung and Hong Kong - 16 Nights Cruising in: 272 day(s), 16 hour(s), 12 minute(s)