September 12 (SeeNews) - Global Ports Holding Plc (GPH), the world's leading cruise port operator, said on Wednesday
its Croatia-based wholly owned unit Zadar International Port Operations has signed a 20-year concession contract with the port authority of Zadar for the operating rights of the Gazenica cruise port.
In March, the port authority of Zadar had issued an award decision to grant a concession to GPH subject to entering a final concession agreement.
"Under the terms of the agreement, GPH will from Q4 2018, use its global expertise and operating model to manage all of the cruise port operations at Gazenica port over the life of the concession", GPH said in a filing with the London Stock Exchange.
The concession includes cruise ship passenger port and terminal services, an international ferry terminal, Ro-Ro services, vehicles and passenger services. It also contains a commercial area of 2,400sqm, with leasable retail and office space.
The cruise ports infrastructure includes a maximum draft of 13m and 1170m of total pier length to accommodate big ships. In 2017, Zadar welcomed 137,000 cruise passengers, with schedule calls for 2018 suggesting that this will grow to close to 150,000 passengers for 2018.
Zadar is a historical town in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea.
Gazenica cruise port is the second new cruise port GPH has signed in 2018, increasing the number of ports it operates to 17 in 9 countries.