Monday, October 27, 2008

Port of Heraklion feature a new port policy

The Port of Heraklion is the main and most modern gateway for the transport of passengers and commodities on the island of Crete. Furthermore, it is one of the ten major Greek ports with national importance (apart from the Thessalonica Port Authority and the Piraeus Port Authority). Port of Heraklion ranks 3rd in the passenger and goods transportation in Greece.

The Port Authority has a new port policy for the Cruise Shipping and our port already functions as a Base Port for Cruise Ships – in co-operation with the Heraklion Airport “Nikos Kazantzakis”. Our goal in the future planning is to operate a New Cruise Terminal with a New Passenger Station.

The Passenger Port serves 1,9 million people and over 310.000 vehicles annually. It possesses modern infrastructure while, at the same time, the existing good road network makes it easily accessible from the town, the Airport and the National road. The Passenger Port operates at Piers I and II, while the conversion of Pier III (currently Commercial Port) into a Cruise Terminal is also being planned.

There also exist two Passenger Terminals. The second one in pier II, which is the newest, stretches for 2,500 m2, and has modern facilities and equipment. In the future plan of the port is a third passenger terminal in pier III that will cater for the cruisers visiting.

From this year, the west side of the Pier III (currently Commercial Port) operates for the Cruise Ships.

It is already known that Heraklion is a historic city with a lot of physical and ancient views (like Knossos Palace, Historic Museum, Festos Palace etc) and is in the destination for Cruise routes in the Mediterranean Sea.

In that respect we can say that the cruise activity of Heraklion Port consist a business core activity in the development process of the Port Authority.

As I say above, the Port of Heraklion operates as a base port in cooperation with the airport of Heraklion, ‘’Nikos Kazantzakis’’. It is the only port in Greece that, in collaboration with the Airport Authorities, has the right to do the Check-in and Check-out of passengers at the New Passenger Station, giving the transit cruise travellers the chance to utilize the time in between until their departure from the airport.

The system of check – in, check – out among others offers:

1) Scanning x-rays machinery.
2) Passenger’s magnetic gate.
3) Exclusive use of anteroom in the New Passenger Station.
4) Use of place from shipping companies for passenger control.
5) Presence of Doctor during the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers.

Furthermore, the Port Authority offers a free issue of a city map and free transfer inside the port with bus.

The port will be soon under the compliance of the ISPS code. From the 1st August will put into practice the security measures for the Olympic Games which will give a great security to all passengers, cruise and commercial ships.

Geographic Location of the port
The harbour is located in the centre of Crete, on the North side of the island. It consists the main entrance - exit gate of both the town and the port. It lies in close proximity to the centre of the town and has a very good road network linking it with:

· The town of Heraklion

· The airport ‘’Nikos Kazantzakis’

· The new National Road (N.R. 90) – North Road Axis of Crete

Its location is extremely advantageous as the Port is situated in the centre of the south- eastern Mediterranean, thus in the junction of three continents.

· Latitude: 35.16N.

· Longitude: 25.10E.

· Sea Map: 1707.

Services
Without question the largest and more effective Port Agent and Tour Operator in Crete for the Cruise Industry is Commodore Travel. Highly specialized in their function, Commmdore Travel offer a top quality, attentive service to Cruise Lines and in addition to leading Companies in the Travel sector. Sphere: Related Content