The “Ventus” is scheduled to arrive at the port of Ushuaia on Monday, September 29 at dawn, with 200 passengers on board, and remain at the terminal until the same day at 7:00 p.m.
“This company’s cruises traditionally open the summer season. As of October 20, the expeditionary ships that make trips to Antarctica will also begin to arrive, ”the president of the Provincial Directorate of Ports (DPP) Roberto Murcia explained to Télam.
The official confirmed that the agency expects to reach 540 arrivals at the port between September of this year and April 2023, 131 more than in 2019 and three times more than in 2021.
He also recalled that in the 2019/2020 season there were 409 calls at the Fuegian port terminal, while the following year there was no activity due to the coronavirus pandemic and in 2021/2022 the movement was partially restored with 178 arrivals.
For the vice-president of the DPP, Miguel Ramírez, the scheduled traffic will be “record” and it is necessary to coordinate with the ship operators the logistical tasks for the days with the highest influx of passengers.
According to Ramírez, there will be “days with 18 boats” to be served and this implies a “coordinated task, for example, with tour operators that operate with groups in the vicinity of the port to take visitors on different excursions,” he said.
In addition, the tourist movement will coexist, as usual, with the arrival of container, fishing and logistics cargo ships dedicated to Antarctic supply.
On the other hand, the port of Ushuaia is currently in the construction phase of an expansion of the dock that will allow it to operate with greater comfort to avoid congestion and delays in operations.
The work is 60% completed and “if there are no problems, the first 80 meters could be finished between the months of November and December,” Ramírez said in statements to local media.
In turn, Murcia confirmed that the original work will be expanded “by 24 more meters with financial resources provided by the National Ministry of Transport.”
“It means that the original project included 80 more meters of dock plus the mooring dolphin, and now we will have 104 meters plus the Dolphin,” emphasized the head of Ports.
Maritime tourism represents almost 30% of the total movement of visitors to the city of Ushuaia each year, and is considered to have a great economic impact because it ensures the arrival of foreign contingents who, although they stay a short time in the destination, go on excursions and consume in shops and restaurants.
The cruises are divided between those that have the Fuegian capital as part of their routes through the South Atlantic, and those that make trips to the Antarctic continent.
In this sense, Ushuaia concentrates more than 90% of the passengers who embark to discover Antarctica each year.
Source: Ambito
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