The last cruise of “Greg Mortimer” when it left Ushuaia on March 15th was an invitation to disaster, and now “we are asking for a humanitarian corridor to take us, as they did with passengers, to our home countries”, said Mauricio Usme, chief medical officer on board the Aurora Expeditions vessel.
Ushuaia, extreme south of Argentina and the hub which handles most Antarctica bound cruises are expecting an exceptional 2019/20 season with some 431 calls, up from the 392 of the previous season, according to provincial port authorities.
Busy weekend for Ushuaia with seven cruise vessels and some 12.000 visitors, including passengers and crew members. According to port authorities, the vessels calling were the Celebrity Eclipse, Star Princess, Norwegian plus Le Boreal, Ortelius and Island Sky.
The port of Ushuaia in the extreme south of Argentina is undergoing an emergency dredging on its southern access ahead of December 16 when the cruise Celebrity Eclipse with its 3.000 passengers and 1.100 crew is scheduled to dock.
Ushuaia, capital of Tierra del Fuego province in the extreme south of Argentina will again be the main hub for Antarctica cruises with an estimated 284 calls involving 36 vessels, according to the provincial Tourism Institute. Overall Ushuaia will receive 375 calls, (Antarctica and non Antarctica cruises) totaling some 120.000 visitors.
The port of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego expects to end the current 2017/18 cruise season with over 339 calls, fifty more than in the previous season, revealed governor Rosana Bertone who attended the SeaTrade International Fair in Miami, the world's major event of the industry.
Next Saturday the Holland America cruise Zaandam is expected in Buenos Aires signaling the start of the 2017/18 season, which according to Argentine officials is going to be the best following on four years of sustained retraction. So far the number of docking requests include 110 calls with an estimated number of 320.000 visitors, although there are possibilities the final figure, by 24 April 2018, could reach 328.000.
Ushuaia, capital of Argentine Tierra del Fuego is expecting some 300 calls this 2017/18 cruise season, involving 42 vessels, 31 of which will be travelling on to Antarctica, according to InFueTur, the Tierra del Fuego tourism office.
Ushuaia in the extreme south of Argentina and capital of Tierra del Fuego province celebrated on 12 October the 132th anniversary of its foundation with several activities including a jumbo popular paella for 12.000 people. The gastronomic display was sponsored by city authorities and New San, a maquila group which assembles electronic products in Tierra del Fuego under a promotion system implemented by Buenos Aires.
Ushuaia remains as Antarctic gate king this 2016/2017 cruise season with 245 out of its 305 calls (45 vessels) heading for the extreme south ice covered continent, according to the data published by the Tierra del Fuego Tourism Institute Infuetur. The season took off in early September with the arrival of Chilean flagged Stella Australis, and its 210 passengers heading for Cape Horn