Oslo plans six dedicated berths

Oslo, Norway is a popular port of call for many cruise lines these days and there are plans for six new berths.

In 2010 the region had 150 individual ship visits but plans show an expected 180 for 2011. The port also saw 19 cruise ships stay for overnight calls whereas this figure has increased to 41 for 2011. Oslo is also considering itself a turnaround port and will see both Cunard and Royal Caribbean turn around in 2011.

Up to now though the port has used non passenger facilities to accommodate a few ships at a time, however a plan in place will see the development of more dedicated berthing space for cruise ships.

To accommodate the traffic the plans included at least six dedicated berths plus a spare by 2025. They have also noted key factors like ship size as currently some ships cannot call on ports such as Stockholm or Bergen simply due to their enormous size.

The plan is now being reviewed by the Planning Department of the city which will hand it over to the port, with its recommendations, in May.