MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Punta Arenas cruise visitors numbers up 30% during the 2014/15 season
Cruise visitors to Punta Arenas, extreme south of Chile during this last 2014/15 season increased by 30%, with 48 vessel calls between last October and April this year, according to Chilean migration and international police records. This represents 78.872 cruise passengers, and is an increase over the 35 calls from the previous season 2013/2014. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesChile is a far friendlier port of call than any in Argentina.
Apr 17th, 2015 - 04:35 am - Link - Report abuse 0Mostly transferred from Ushuaia I expect, where Captains regularly complain is seething with corruption.
Apr 17th, 2015 - 10:43 am - Link - Report abuse 0visitors to punta arenas?
Apr 17th, 2015 - 12:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0lol
and to do what?
it is the same shite as the islets, but crowded with chilotes.
yuck
Chilotes... That's the point entirely! No corrupt thieving unfriendly anti-Falkland Argentine thugs at the docks of arriving cruise vessels. Good restaurants, interesting museums, low crime incidence, friendly immigration authorities, an excellent modern hospital with a working CT scanner and superb Chilean Naval support.
Apr 17th, 2015 - 02:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0#3
Apr 17th, 2015 - 05:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Surely it's main attraction is that it is not in Argentina and the natives are friendly.
#5 Clyde
Apr 17th, 2015 - 05:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Jeremy Clarkson has the same opinion as you and wholly endorses the friendly residents of Punta Arenas. Apparently for some unknown reason, he has less of a kind opinion of the inhabitants of Ushuaia...
...the nice publicity for Chile was worth millions in advertising and he's very popular here.
It's the government not the normal people.
Apr 17th, 2015 - 11:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Most people would much prefer to deal with “Chilote” government officials than brainwashed and uneducated Argentinean ones.
I understand that Punta Arenas has a functional sewerage system and is not plagued by tire-burning thieves and vagabonds.
Apr 18th, 2015 - 02:17 am - Link - Report abuse 0Sounds much nicer than the 'other place'.
PS: Chicuero, you maybe interested in this:
http://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/bernardo-o-higgins-bust
and this (historical) page from 2006
http://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/bernardo-o-higgins-bust
I can assure you this continues every year. I attended one ceremony, a few years ago with a very dear Chilean friend.
You may like to know he arrived in the UK as a 'refugee' at the age of 6, with family, as his father was a Marxist Trade Union Chief in the early 1970s. (!)
Although we have very different political opinions, we are firm friends, and have enjoyed many a late-night debate over several bottles of fine Chilean wine during the years.
We are old 'sparring-partners', and I like to think we have learnt much from each other.
Equally, he was my 'entry' to Chile, and I have spent time living with his extended family in Valparaiso/Vina etc in the past.
A classic Chilean 'Gent'. I love him!
-with respect, ilsen
#8 ilsen
Apr 18th, 2015 - 06:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0Thanks for sharing.
This article shows a huge cruise ship unable to dock in Punta Arenas. The reason is simple. P.A. has jetties but no real port! It is about time for Chile to start building what that attractive city has been missing for too long.
Apr 18th, 2015 - 07:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Philippe
#10 Philippe
Apr 18th, 2015 - 08:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0PA has the capacity to easily handle a cruise vessel over 300 meters in length, but the problem is congestion. The other two piers are far shorter in length and draft.
The main pier in Punta Arenas is the Muelle Prat which consists of a finger pier of 376 meters in length with 9 meters draft at the head, and lesser draft as vessels gets closer to shore.
A satelight image of the port: https://www.google.com/maps/@-53.1709285,-70.9029719,17z/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
If it weren't for the Argentine corruption, unfriendliness, dreadful lack of services, rip offs and lousy port services, Ushuaia would be getting a far larger share of the cruise vessels.
I mean no disrespect to Argentine readers but the truth is PA is a much more developed city than Ushuaia. The corruption of the police force and the attitude of the people in Ushuaia is an embarrassment. The Top Gear incident with Jeremy Clarkson is just the tip of the iceberg.
Apr 20th, 2015 - 12:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0#12 PNL
Apr 20th, 2015 - 06:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Agreed! If you read comments from cruise line passengers, their generally ok with their Chilean experiences, but their numerous negative comments about Argentina says it all.
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