JEDDAH, 19 April 2004 — The M.S. Bremen arrived at Jeddah Port on Saturday, bringing with it 70 German tourists. Sixty-eight of the tourists received instant day passes from immigration officials and were given a guided tour of the city. Two were ill and stayed on board.
The group, hosted by Haji Abdullah Alireza Company Limited, the Saudi agent for Hapag-Lloyd, the company that owns the Bremen, had been planning this trip for a year.
“This is a dream realized,” said Mahmoud Sukkar of Alireza Travel and Tour. “In the past, when cruise ships arrived in Jeddah, the passengers were required to remain on board, but now things have changed. This is a very big step toward further opening Saudi Arabia to international tourism.”
There were two SAPTCO buses at the ready when the ship docked Saturday morning to take the tourists around the city. After completion of formalities that included inspection by customs and health officials, the tourists boarded them. “We will make a city tour and a walk through the fish market,” said Sabine Schoel, the Bremen’s shore excursion manager.
Besides the fish market, the tour took in the Balad district, Naseef House, Tahliah Street, the Bin Laden mosque and a drive along the Corniche.
“Hapag-Lloyd has a local agent here who helped prepare for the group’s visit including providing all the women with abayas. When the crew of the other five ships that Hapag-Lloyd owns heard that the Bremen’s passengers were to be allowed into Saudi Arabia, they were very excited. Now they all want to come here,” Schoel added.
It is unclear when the other ships will be passing through the Red Sea and whether passenger will also be given day passes. However, Sukkar told Arab News this was just the first of several cruise ships to visit Saudi Arabia.
Arab News spoke with several of the passengers on board before the day trip began. “We don’t really know what to expect, but we will see,” said Doris Bernhard before leaving the port. Halfway through the tour, she said: “I am very impressed. I expected more sand and more desert. I also expected it to be smaller. The people are so very friendly. I wish I knew more Arabic to better communicate with them. But so far I have only learned ‘marhaba’, ‘tammam’ and ‘habibi.’”
The tour guide was Ursula Maria Al-Sasi, a German citizen who has lived in Saudi Arabia for 32 years. She told Arab News: “When I heard that this group was coming, I wanted to get involved. Saudi Arabia’s image throughout the world is distorted and inaccurate. Tourism will allow people to come to Saudi Arabia to see it for themselves. This group is very excited to be here and the members are saying that they wished they could stay longer.”
On returning to the Bremen, the tourists were visited by German Consul General Stephan Keller.
The Bremen’s voyage with these passengers started in the Seychelles and made its first stop in Yemen. Jeddah was the second stop. From Jeddah, the ship will make its way to Safaga, Egypt, and then to Aqaba in Jordan. The ship will then travel to Istanbul where a new group of passengers will come aboard.
The Bremen was built in 1990, is 111 meters long and travels at a speed of 15 knots. It has six passenger decks and is operated by a crew of 100. There is an on-board hospital and a helicopter landing deck.
Gerald Hirt, a maritime consultant with HPC, was at the port to greet the Bremen. “Port security is as important as airport security, especially when passenger ships are involved,” he said.
“Recent legal requirements of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) comprise a number of measures with only one aim: To effectively protect ships and port facilities from terrorist acts. We are here in Jeddah to analyze the security and to make improvements that would make the port here compliant with new international standards that are to be in place by July 1, 2004.”
