'Old lady' first in town this season

Gallery Video

MOSSEL BAY NEWS & VIDEO - She might be an "old lady" of the sea, but the MS Albatros, which sailed into Mossel Bay on Sunday, 24 November hailing the start of cruise liner season, remains a firm favourite among her German-speaking passengers, who continually return to see the world from the sea.

The ship is operated by the German-based travel agency, Phoenix Reisen. She was built in 1973.

Aboard the ship were 830 tourists, predominantly from Germany, but also Switzerland, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Turkey, Romania and Russia. The crew of around 350 are predominantly from the Philippines, Indonesia and Europe.

Since October, the MS Albatros has called on Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban, Richards Bay and now Mossel Bay.

Official welcome
The vessel was welcomed by Mossel Bay municipal manager Adv Thys Giliomee, ward councillor for Great Brak River and member of the Mayoral Committee, Councillor Cliffie Bayman, TNPA's port manager of Mossel Bay Shadrack Tshikalange, Mossel Bay harbour master, Captain Vania Cloete, and chief operations officer of Mossel Bay Tourism, Aneli Gerber.

Adv Giliomee thanked the ship's Captain Robert Fronenbroek for calling on Mossel Bay. As a reminder of Mossel Bay's rich maritime history, it being where the first visitor from Europe, the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias first met indigenous people in 1488, he handed the captain a souvenir replica of the Dias caravel.

Photo gallery: First cruise liner for the season in Mossel Bay

Tshikalange said the Port of Mossel Bay was scheduled to receive at least seven cruise liner calls this season from November 2019 to May 2020.

"In collaboration with the Mossel Bay Municipality and Mossel Bay Tourism we are forging ahead with plans to ensure that the Port of Mossel Bay supports the lucrative tourism industry and benefits the Garden Route region."

TNPA's medium to long term plans include a facility that will enable cruise passengers to disembark directly on to the quayside, instead of arriving by ferry.

TNPA has positioned Durban and Cape Town as stimulus cruise home ports while Richards Bay, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth and East London continue to receive their share of cruise ships.

Provisional schedules indicate that at least 23 luxury cruise ships, operated by 17 international cruise lines, are scheduled to call across the country's six cruise ports this season.

Watch a video below:

Latest equipment
Despite her "age", the MS Albatros is fitted with state of the art equipment, according to Captain Fronenbroek. Sharing interesting facts during a tour of the ship's bridge, he said special care is taken to live up to the stringent environmental regulations applied.

"We are proud to say we dry dock every two years to take out what is old and not working for us and replace it with up-to-date techology and equipment. We like to be ahead of the questions to come to make sailing the world as we do right now, sustainable."

Fronenboek said since the MS Albatros "likes going off the beaten track", they often find themselves in environmentally sensitive areas, which causes their mindfulness of recycling, for instance. He said that plastic and other waste, which cannot be incinerated, is always kept on board until it can be safely and correctly discarded of.

"We often go where other ships don't go. It is more challenging, but also more rewarding."

The swimming pool. Photo: Jannie du Plessis