During the first half of the year, a total of 415,401 passengers have used the port of Valencia, representing a 23.33% increase compared to the same period in 2016. Of this figure, 266,437 correspond to regular line passengers (+34.82%) and the rest, 148,964, arrived aboard 72 tourist cruise calls. The volume of cruise passengers represents an increase of 7.03% compared to the same time period.
The increase in the number of passengers using regular services is largely due to the rise in traffic on the Valencia-Mostaganem line, which has grown from about three thousand people per month during the first half of last year to more than nine thousand in the same period this year. The Valencia-Mostaganem line recorded a total of 53,000 passengers in the first half, ten times more than in the same period of 2016. It is expected to close the year with a traffic of 110,000 passengers compared to 76,059 last year, which would represent an increase of over 44%.
Regarding the increase in the number of cruise passengers visiting the port of Valencia, there has been a 7.03% rise, thus fulfilling the forecasts that the Valencia Port Authority has been working with for a year. In fact, the APV expects to close the year reaching around 440,000 cruise passengers and 203 calls, which would represent significant progress towards its goal for 2020: 600,000 passengers and 250 calls.
At the Board of Directors meeting next October, the APV plans to approve the terms of the tender for the construction and operation of the new cruise terminal. Currently, it has two docks at the port of Valencia that allow the docking of ships up to 300 meters in length, as well as two alignments located in the northern expansion of 430 and 440 meters in length respectively and a draft of 14 meters.
Photo: APV