First of four cruise ships to visit Umeå

Monday August 16, Kvarken Ports will receive the first of four cruise ships docking in Umeå since the pandemic started. The ship Hanseatic Nature, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, which departed from Hamburg Germany, is out on a two-week long Swedish cruise with Luleå as the northernmost destination. Here in Umeå, cruise travelers are given the opportunity for guided city tours with shopping, food and nature as the main experiences.

The 138 meter long cruise ship makes a day visit in Umeå. There are about 112 passengers on board, most of them Germans.

- Sweden is usually a popular destination for Germans. When the industry had the opportunity to start up again after the pandemic, it just said bang, says Viktoria Larsson, port engineer at Kvarken Ports and continues. We did not expect cruise ship visits as early as 2021. As for this type of visit, they usually plan a few years ahead, but this time it has been a few months, which is extremely unusual.

The ships belong to the Hanseatic Expedition, which are all state-of-the-art with a high environmental performance. They are equipped with electricity connection, SCR catalysts, optimized energy use and their own osmosis system for producing fresh water. The ship leaves Umeå early Tuesday morning to continue its journey north to Luleå.

- We in the north have many exotic elements for Germans, partly a fantastic nature and in summer long bright nights. But something I think will develop are winter cruises where snow, ice and cold can be exotic and maybe something you are not used to in Europe in the same way as with us, says Viktoria Larsson.