The Port of Keelung last year received 1.06 million passengers, with strong growth in the number of cruise ship travelers from the Philippines, Taiwan International Ports Corp (TIPC, 台灣港務) statistics showed.
The number of cruise ship travelers to Keelung is expected to grow further this year, as four large cruise ships are scheduled to dock at the port this year, TIPC said.
They include the Explore Dream in March, Costa Venezia in April, World Dream in July and Le Laperouse in September.
Photo courtesy of the Port of Keelung, Taiwan International Ports Corp
TIPC statistics showed that the number of passengers arriving at the port grew by 13.47 percent to reach 1.06 million last year — a new record.
The figure also topped the number of passengers accessing the ports of Hualien, Taichung and Chiayi, the company said.
TIPC attributed the increase to strong growth in the number of travelers on international cruise ships, from about 830,000 in 2017 to 940,000 last year.
The biggest growth was in the number of cruise ship travelers from the Philippines, which rose by 23 percent to about 60,000 last year.
Princess Cruises and Star Cruises have expanded their operations in Keelung, TIPC said.
Princess Cruises has dispatched the Majestic Princess to serve passengers embarking from Keelung, with the occupancy rate expected to exceed 90 percent.
Meanwhile, Star Cruises is sending its largest cruise ship — the SuperStar Virgo — to operate tours to Japan and South Korea.
Passengers on the COSCO Star (中遠之星), a cross-strait ferry, also grew from about 29,000 in 2017 to 36,000 last year, TIPC said.
In the past, the majority of passengers on cross-strait ferries were Chinese tourists, but there has been an increase in Taiwanese traveling to China, TIPC said, adding that this shows that more travelers are considering sea travel.
However, the port saw a slight decrease in tourists visiting through the fly-cruise model, from about 42,000 in 2017 to 39,000 last year, the company said.
Cruise ship tours were in high demand among Taiwanese last year, and not many extra tickets could be sold to international tourists, TIPC said.
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
RSS