Region Gotland and Copenhagen Malmö Port are working together on this project - the former is building the quay and CMP is responsible for its operation.
CMP will also help to sell Gotland as a destination.
'The fact that we have started work on the cruise quay together with CMP and the contractor Denmark's Aarsleff is an extremely important milestone, which feels incredibly exciting and gratifying. Together with the tourism industry and the business sector, we now have to ensure that all of Gotland is ready when the cruise facility opens in 2018,' said Björn Jansson, chair of the regional executive committee, Region Gotland.
'We have experience of developing cruise ports and marketing destinations. Being able to offer our customers Visby as a cruise destination will make the cruise routes in the Baltic more attractive. We are anticipating 150 arrivals per year in the future. Naturally this is positive for us, but it also contributes to developing tourism on Gotland, said Johan Röstin, ceo of Copenhagen Malmö Port AB.
Environmental issues are of key concern. 'The ships must be able to discharge their waste water into an equalizing basin, from where it is pumped to the sewage works. The sludge can then be used in biogas production here on Gotland. We will thus be contributing to relieving the Baltic of additional pollution,' said Patric Ramberg, technical director and project owner, Region Gotland.
The quay will extend 530mtr and include a small terminal of around 300sq mtr. It will be possible to dock at Visby with average wind speeds of up to 14 metres per second once the new facility is completed.
