(live here) – The largest cruise ship ever to arrive in Israel, and the first ship ever powered by natural gas, entered the port of Haifa early in the morning, 05/11/22.
At the height of a cruise season like no other in Israel, another record was set with the arrival of AIDAcosma, the ship with the lip painting on the bow, into the port of Haifa
◄ The passenger ship AIDAcosma in the port of Haifa (photo: Marom Ben-Aria)
The largest ship that ever hit Israel
Many huge ships visited the port of Haifa this year, but there hasn’t been one yet. With a weight of 184,000 tons, a length of 337 meters, 20 floors, 17 restaurants, 23 bars and a capacity of up to 6,654 passengers, the giant ship AIDAcosma entered the port of Haifa early in the morning and set a record as the largest cruise ship seen in Israel. The ship, which was launched in 2021, was built at a shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, at an estimated cost of 950 million dollars. The AIDA cruise company, known for the lip painting on the bow of its ships, is part of the CARNIVAL cruise corporation, and is the largest ship model operated by Carnival worldwide.
Norwegian joins a long line of shipping companies that frequent Haifa Port
The arrival of the AIDAcosma at the port of Haifa begins another fascinating month in the port, during which Norwegian Cruise Line will join the long list of companies (a total of 9 different companies) that chose Haifa as their home port this year, and started and ended their cruises in Haifa. Norwegian will bring the Norwegian Epic – a large ship of about 4000 passengers – to Israel to exchange passengers. Mano Shipping and MSC will also continue sailings from Haifa throughout the month of November.
Haifa Port reports that the month of October that ended set an all-time monthly record with 84,328 passengers passing through the terminal. 59,475 of them were Israelis and tourists who started or ended their cruises in the port of Haifa, and 24,853 tourists who came on tours of Israel on ships that stopped in Haifa for a period of between one and three days.
powered by natural gas (LNG)
The AIDAcosma is also the first ship powered by natural gas (LNG) to ever arrive in Israel, and is currently one of 9 cruise ships in the world powered by natural gas.
The ship, carrying about 4,500 tourists and 1,500 crew members, arrived this morning to visit Israel as part of a journey of the ship that started a week ago in Barcelona, passed through Malta and Greece, and will continue after Haifa directly to the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and will end on November 20 in Abu Dhabi. During the month of the World Cup, the ship will sail between Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha in Qatar.
The agents in Israel of AIDA and Carnival Europe are “A.M.A. “Incorporated Sea Agencies”
Additional articles in Haifa – Haifa News:
Mandy Salzman, CEO of Haifa Port Company:
We promised at the beginning of the year, as soon as the first signs of the weakening of the Corona virus, to bring many cruise ships for the Israelis, for the city of Haifa and for the State of Israel. I am happy that we met the task, and that 2022 will be, by a large margin, the most successful year for the Port of Haifa in terms of passengers and tourists. This momentum should be continued towards 2023, which already looks like another leap forward. The tourists who arrive by ship to Haifa, or fly to Israel to travel there and then go on a cruise are 100% tourists who leave a lot of money in Israel and provide employment to thousands of people
◄ The passenger ship AIDAcosma in the port of Haifa (photo: Marom Ben-Aria)
Zohar Rom, director of cruises at the port of Haifa:
It is always exciting to see a new record broken, and certainly to see such a huge ship visiting Haifa and Israel with thousands of tourists. We have the ability to continue to grow, and bring more ships for Israelis and tourists who want to board the ships in Haifa, as well as bring many more tourists to Israel. The global cruise companies trust us and the Port of Haifa is firmly in their plans for the future as well. 400,000 passengers and tourists will pass through the Haifa port this year and this is a good opportunity to thank the workers at the Haifa port terminal under the management of Yaron Klein and his team: Amir Blank, Guy Avokert, Tomer Roimi and Rita Charni
