Subic welcomes cruise ships after three years

Subic Bay Freeport — Liberian-based cruise ship, MV Blue Dream Star docked Thursday, 2 October at the Boton Wharf in its maiden voyage here as the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority resumed receiving cruise ship arrivals after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Carrying a thousand passengers and 312 crew on board the ship, it started its voyage from Xiamen, China on 10 October and will return to the same port this evening.

SBMA chairman and administrator Jonathan D. Ta  shared his excitement over the MV Blue Dream Star's maiden voyage.

"I am very happy that we have finally resumed cruise ship arrivals in Subic Bay because this is one of my administration's thrusts. This will further boost our tourism industry as they would be touring destinations inside the Freeport," Tan said.

Cruise passengers were welcomed by local performers as they disembarked from the ship. Among the performers were the Gordon High School cultural dancers, Pastolan Aeta indigenous dancers, and the Jollibee performers.

German-made passenger liner

Formerly named Glory Sea, Blue Dream Star ship is a passenger liner built in 2001 in Germany by Blohm & Voss Repair GmbH Hamburg. It measures 181.4 meters in overall length, 25.52 meters in breadth, and 9.9 meters in depth.

Its owner, Blue Dream International Cruises Development (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., is registered in Monrovia, capital of Liberia.

Prior to Subic Bay port, Blue Dream Star had already made cruise calls to other Asian ports like Xiamen (China), Jeju (Korea), Shanghai (China), Nagasaki (Japan), Qingdao (China), Hakata/Fukuoka (Japan) and Nagasaki (Japan) among others since late August this year.

Chinese tourists

Meanwhile, the Chinese counterpart of the shore excursion manager sought the cooperation of the SBMA to ensure the success of this endeavor, adding that they intend to promote Subic Bay more because Chinese tourists only know three tourist destinations in the Philippines, which are Cebu, Bohol and Boracay.

Ship agent Wilhelmsen-Smith Bell (Subic) Inc. disclosed that this cruise call is the first of a series of 11 voyages arriving in Subic Bay port every four days until November 21, most of which will be traveling to and from Xiamen, China.

Tan assured that the SBMA will be in full support of the cruise calls, not only of Blue Dream Star, but other cruise ships as well.