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SINGAPORE: Singapore Tourism Board said it wants to have a new cruise terminal at the Marina South Pier site as soon as possible, but there are still issues to be worked out.
The comment came as international cruise liner Royal Caribbean, which is the latest big player to set sail in Singapore, opened its regional headquarters here on Friday.
The cruise liner is seeking to grow its presence in Asia and said Singapore is within easy reach of major regional destinations like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.
Adam Goldstein, President, Royal Caribbean International, said: "It's very well-situated in terms of destinations. It's also well-situated for us in terms of our reach into India, China, Australia and New Zealand. That's why it will be our regional headquarters."
Royal Caribbean is deploying 'Rhapsody of the Seas', which will be the largest cruise ship so far to ply Asian routes, here in December.
It expects the number of cruise passengers in Asia to grow to 1.5 million by 2010, a jump of more than 40 percent from 2005.
Royal Caribbean said it would be running its Asia Pacific call centre operations out of the Singapore office because it has similar a time zone with most of its targeted market in the region.
With more cruise companies and ships looking to set up base here, Singapore Tourism Board said it would like to expand its berth capacity as soon as possible.
Lim Neo Chian, Deputy Chairman and CEO, Singapore Tourism Board, said: "Right now, with the two cruise terminals, there are already instances where the ships have to be deployed to PSA berths. So it's really not the best state of affair.
"From the STB standpoint, we'll like to do it as soon as we can. But obviously you can't rush it. You have to do proper studies and that's where we are right now."
The Tourism Board said there are still many issues to iron out because the Marina South site is on reclaimed land.
The Singapore Cruise Centre is seeking to be a major cruise hub in the region.
It received 850,000 passengers last year and expects the number to hit 1.2 million by 2010.
- CNA/so
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