The Port of Keelung yesterday welcomed a new expedition cruise ship, with tourists aboard scheduled to visit tourist attractions in northern and eastern Taiwan, Taiwan International Ports Corp (TIPC) said.
The Coral Adventurer, a tropical expedition ship of Australian cruiseline Coral Expeditions, received a water cannon salute when docking at the Port of Keelung for the first time yesterday morning.
It was the fourth expedition cruise ship to arrive at the commercial seaport in northern Taiwan this year.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan International Port Corp
The ship’s pilot run to Taiwan carried 64 international tourists, departing from Nagasaki and arriving at Keelung after visiting Japan’s Yakushima, Suwanosejima, and Amami Oshima islands, TIPC said.
Most of the tourists disembarked and went sightseeing in Keelung, Taipei and New Taipei City yesterday, the company said, adding that tourists are returning home on flights.
Another tour group is to arrive by flight today and board the ship in Keelung to visit Taroko Gorge in Hualien County before sailing to the Philippines, it said.
A night on the ship costs about NT$17,000 per person, the port company said.
The Australian cruise operator offers expedition tours in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, and has made Keelung one of its home ports, the company said.
The ships are equipped with smaller transfer boats, which are designed to carry tourists to small islands that only have shoals or shallow bays, it said.
The cruise line’s Web site shows some of the views cruise tourists have seen on their island-hopping excursions, it said.
Aside from the Coral Adventurer, another ship in the cruise line’s fleet, the Coral Geographer, is scheduled to operate from Taiwan on Oct. 21 next year, the company said.
Prior to the arrival of the Australian cruise ship yesterday, three other expedition ships had docked at Keelung this year, including the National Geographic Resolution on Sept. 29, the Heritage Adventurer on June 23 and the Ponant Le Soleal on March 24.
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