MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Puerto Madryn has scheduled 43 cruise calls and 45.000 pax

Puerto Madryn in the Argentine Patagonia province of Chubut is expecting 43 cruise vessel calls this coming season, --which will extend until April 17, 2009--, totalling an estimated 45.000 visitors, according to reports in the local press.

"Although some cruise vessels have already arrived, we are planning the official opening of the season for next December 3", said Chubut province Deputy Secretary of Tourism Adrian Contreras. That day 293 meters long "Radiance of the Seas" is scheduled to arrive, the first of nine calls this season. Most cruise vessels expected in the Patagonian port carry Bahamas flag and include among others "Celebrity Infinity", which is 294 meters long and will be the largest with six calls scheduled in the next four months. Another large cruise vessel is "Norwegian Sun", 250 meters long which will visit Puerto Madryn ten times. The first cruise vessel to arrive last weekend was Russian flagged Professor Molchanov, with sixty passengers. Contreras said that it is normal for the relatively small cruises to arrive first, "mostly for scientific or academic purposes, which are then followed by the huge vessels with thousands of visitors". According to local estimates each cruise visitor represents 80 US dollars per day for local activities. "They contract tours, purchase souvenirs, and given they are thousands plus crew members it represents a strong infusion of money for the local economy", explained Contreras. Besides each passenger must pay 10 US dollars landing tax, plus all the port fees and docking costs, said Hugo Steconi head of Puerto Madryn port management authority. However Steconi admits that the growing number of cruise calls and visitors is demanding an expansion of docking and landing facilities. "We have plans to concentrate all cruise activities at the Piedrabuena dock for which a 62 meters extension is needed to take it to 300 meters, comfortable enough for the 280 meters plus vessels to operate. Now we are limited to 264 meters", said Steconi. Apparently the infrastructure investment involves from 8 to 10 million US dollars, a sum which the province of Chubut and the federal governments in Buenos Aires are negotiating how to match. The cruise season in Puerto Madryn has given continuity to the tourism industry because it follows the whales' migration to the South Atlantic, (August, September, October) stopping in the area for a couple of months to mate and calve. During that time whales sightseeing in the Puerto Pirámides area attracts thousands from all over the world.