The docks in Hamburg Altona are designed for ships with length of up to 300 metres and supplement the terminals in the HafenCity with another pier for large ships.
The cruise business is booming and in Hamburg more ships are arriving than ever before - over 100 ships with a total of up to 300,000 passengers are expected to be welcomed in the city on the Elbe.
And the number of passengers is also expected to grow. Their first landing after the voyage used to be at the "Cruise Terminal" at Chicagokai in the Port of Hamburg.
Since April 2011, the new docking stations for cruisers has eased the burden on the terminal in the HafenCity. At the "Hamburg Cruise Centre Altona" there is now space for ships with a total length of up to 300 metres, so mega-liners with a capacity of around 3,000 beds can moor here. The quay wall was completed in 2009 and the foundation stone for the 2,000 square metre, glass-enclosed terminal building was laid in March 2010. With the winning design, the architects Renner Hainke Wirth also fulfilled the construction requirements of Altona district council and the building owner, Fischereihafenentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG: The eight-metre high building does not interfere with the beautiful view of the Elbe from the Altona balcony. The viewing point of the building is the Farewell Deck, a roof terrace where you can wave to the passengers arriving or departing. The "pearl necklace" on the Elbe has thus gained another link with which the cruise city of Hamburg can compete internationally.
