The Port of Paranaguá received the MSC Armonia cruise ship last weekend. The tourist stop is a test to insert the Paraná terminal in the fixed scale of this and other passenger vessel lines.
“This is the berthing of the largest scale of passenger ships that we have ever received here at the Port of Paranaguá. The action is part of a State program whose objective is to attract and promote tourism in the region”, said the director-president of Portos do Paraná, Luiz Fernando Garcia.
About 275 meters long, 29 meters wide and 54 meters high, the vessel left Itajaí, in the State of Santa Catarina, and entered the Bay of Paranaguá around 5am. At 7 am, she was already docking in the port of Paranaguá.
For the CEO of Paraná Turismo, Irapuã Cortes Santos, this new stopover consolidates Paraná as a tourist destination for large passenger ships that make their seasons in Brazil.
“It is important for us to begin to understand all this tourism as an economic activity,” he said. “It’s really a test for our reception here on the coast”.
With a maximum capacity of up to 2,520 passengers and 780 crew, on this voyage, MSC Armonia had 2,100 passengers and 600 crew on board. Of this total, 80% went down to get to know Paranaguá and the region’s attractions.
For this scale to happen, there were years of preparation and engagement with the State and the municipality of Paranaguá.
According to Paraná’s Secretary of State for Infrastructure and Logistics, Fernando Furiatti, this tourist stop is important for the entire state.
“It shows that Paraná’s infrastructure is efficient not only for cargo but also welcomes, very well, passengers who come to visit our coastline”, he said.
The test scale is a preparatory step.
“Certainly, Paranaguá, and Paraná, will be on the route of the biggest cruises circulating on the Brazilian coast soon”, concludes Luiz Fernando Garcia.
With information from Gazeta do Povo