Keelung (Taipei City, Taiwan China)

Cruise Port schedule, live map, terminals, news

Rating:
Keelung cruise port

Region
Asia

Local Time
2024-10-12 14:01

min: 69 °F (20 °C) / max: 82 °F (28 °C) 78°F
25.4°C
Wind: 89°/ 6.2 m/s  Gust: 6.8 m/sWind: 89°/ 6.2 m/s  Gust: 6.8 m/sMod. breeze
6.2 m/s
Min / Max Temperature82 °F / 28 °C
69 °F / 21 °C
  Port Map

Port Keelung cruise ship schedule shows timetable calendars of all arrival and departure dates by month. The port's schedule lists all ships (in links) with cruises going to or leaving from Keelung, Taipei City, Taiwan China. To see the full itineraries (ports of call dates and arrival / departure times) and their lowest rates – just follow the corresponding ship-link.

DayShipArrivalDeparture
15 October, 2024
Tuesday
Viking Cruises Cruises cruise lineViking Orion
21 October, 2024
Monday
Royal Caribbean Cruises cruise lineQuantum Of The Seas08:0023:00
22 October, 2024
Tuesday
Celebrity Cruises Cruises cruise lineCelebrity Millennium08:0017:00
27 October, 2024
Sunday
Princess Cruises Cruises cruise lineCoral Princess08:0018:00

Keelung (officially Keelung City) is a major seaport and large city located in Taiwan's northeastern part. The city borders New Taipei - forming together the Taipei–Keelung Metro. City's nickname is "Rainy Port" due to its maritime role and frequent rains. Keelung is Taiwan's second-largest seaport - after Kaohsiung.

 Other cruise port cities in Taiwan include Kaohsiung, Taichung, Hualien, Anping, as well as Magong/Penghu.

A major tourist attraction is Bisha Fishing Port. Port Keelung is in the harbor - located right in the city. The port serves mainly the cargo and passenger shipping traffic/ferries to China's Xiamen and Taiwan's Matsu Islands (Lienchiang County, 36 islands total, the 5 largest are Nangan, Dongju, Xiju, Beigan, Dongyin). Taima Ferries (a 2-ship company) currently operates daily overnight Taiwan-Matsu crossings. A catamaran/fast ferry service to Fuzhou (mainland China) is operated from Port Taipei.

In 2003, the GHK-owned Star Cruises pioneered mini-cruises in Taiwan with two ships (SuperStar Libra and SuperStar Gemini) homeported in Keelung for short voyages to Japan (Okinawa) and China (Hong Kong).

Keelung City covers a total area of approx 133 km2 (51 mi2) and has population over 370,000. The city's northern part faces the ocean and is marked by the large deepwater harbor port. The annual Ghost Festival is one of the oldest in Taiwan. It dates back to 1851 following bitter clashes between rival clans. Coal mining peaked in 1968 and the city quickly developed. here is Taiwan's only fully oil-fired power plant (Hsieh-ho Power Plant). Its installed capacity is 2000 MW.

Port Keelung

Keelung Port (aka Keelung Harbor/locode TWKEL) is in the city's vicinity. All facilities are operated by the state-owned company "Taiwan International Ports Corporation".

The seaport was opened in 1886, and by the 20th century, it became Taiwan's largest. The port's business growth also brought prosperity to the city itself, making it Tawain's 4th largest (after Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung). Following Japan's defeat in WW2 (1939-1945), the Japanese army left Taiwan through Keelung. Being the largest port, the Chinese entered Taiwan through Keelung and took over the territory from Japan.

In the 1960s-70s, the port became one of the world's busiest ports. By 1984, its harbor became the world's 7th largest containership port.

The harbor waterway is narrow (width ~400 m / 13000 ft) and has length ~2 km (1,2 mi). It extends from the inner harbor (port's southwestern part) to the northwest (port's entrance). The seaport is accessible from Keelung Station (Taiwan Railway Administration's northern terminus/opened in 1891).

In 2016, Taiwan was ranked Asia's 3rd-largest cruise travel market - following China and Singapore. In 2017, Taiwan’s cruise industry value reached about USD 162 million. In 2016, Taiwan International Ports Corporation reported a total of 493 ship calls handled and about 750,000 cruise passengers served. Season 2017's projections were for over 1 million passengers.

In 2017, to promote Taiwan's cruise tourism industry, Port Keelung attracted Costa Cruises (via Costa Asia) for two roundtrip itineraries. They were operated by the ships Costa neoRomantica (departing April 12) and Costa Fortuna (departing June 16). Costa Fortuna's cruise had scheduled live performances onboard by the popular Taiwanese pop singer A-Lin (on June 19 and 23).

In 2017, the port reported a record year with 32% increase in cruise passengers - up to 1,14 million (from ~860,000 in 2016). This ranked Taiwan Asia's 2nd in terms of cruise ship tourism. In 2017, Star Cruises homeported here SuperStar Aquarius. The roundtrip cruise itinerary visited ports in Japan - Naha, Ishigaki Island and Miyakojima Island.

"Taipei Port Container" project at Port Keelung included the construction of 7 berths (total length 2366 m / 7762 ft) plus development of land area 1,1 km2 (0,4 mi2). The project's total investment was USD 600 million with annual capacity ~4 million TEU-containers. All construction works were completed in 2014. The first 4 berths were operational by the end of 2009. The bid for the extension project (containership berths 18 and 19)  was won by CCTC (China Container Terminal Corporation) in 2006. Along with berths W18 and W19, CCTC also received a 38-year concession on berths W19, W20 and W21 starting from April 21, 2009.

Port Keelung's terminal for general and bulk cargo ("Taipei Port 2") was built in 2009-2015. In 2018, the cruise port handled 1,06 million passengers (13,47% increase over 2017). The increase was attributed to increased international ship calls. In 2018, the number of foreign cruisers was ~940,000 (compared to ~830,000 in 2017), including ~60,000 from Philippines (23% increase).

According to statistics provided by Taiwan International Port Corporation (state-owned seaport management company), the number of cruise tourists visiting Keelung rose from ~560,000 (in 2015) to ~660,000 (in 2016), ~820,000 (2017), ~940,000 (2018) and ~950,000 (2019). In 2019, Port Keelung's cruising business contributed ~NT$ 5 billion (USD 160,9 million) to the city's economy. During its homeporting season 2019, the Majestic Princess ship alone served 217,236 passengers.

In the pre-COVID 2019, Keelung Port handled 297 international cruise ship calls. In 2024, their number was 193.

Keelung cruise terminal

Cruise ships in Keelung dock at berths on the East and West side of the ports. In both terminals tourism information (including ferries tour schedule times) and maps are provided and major currencies can be exchanged.

From the cruise port, downtown is within approx 10 min walking distance.

The cruise terminal was majorly renovated in 2018 and now has the capacity to handle even the world's largest passenger ships of Royal Caribbean's Oasis-class (LOA length 362 m, capacity 6370 passengers plus 2400 crew).

The cruise port offers plenty of sightseeing and other activities, most of which are within approx 10 min walking distance from the cruise ship pier. Popular tourist attractions are downtown's Miaokou Night Market (entertainment, dining, shopping), several historic forts (all with great seaviews), Heping Island Park (Ho Ping Island Hi Park on Heping Island connected to mainland via Heping Bridge).

Most of the cruise lines' excursions and ashore activities are in Taiwan's capital city - Taipei. Keelung Station (train station) is also relatively close to the cruise terminal (at ~15 min walking distance). Trains are the cheapest and quickest way, with the train travel time (to Taipei's main station) approx 50 min.

(NEW/project) Keelung Harbor Cruise Terminal

The next image shows a futuristic design project for a new Keelung Harbor cruise ship terminal.

 Next images relate to the Keelung Harbor Service Building (project by Neil M. Denari Architects/NMDA). This cruise terminal facility has a daily capacity of ~10,000 cruise ship tourists.

The project was 2-phased and included the construction of a public plaza with boardwalks (24-hour open), a scenic restaurant building, an office building, and the cruise terminal building. The cantilevered restaurant building interlinks the cruise terminal with the office building. The boardwalks and plazas will be open to the public 24 hours a day.

The complex is bordered by a 6-lane road and includes internal roads (for tour buses and taxis), parking facilities (capacity ~1500 vehicles and scooters), large green spaces.

The project (total area 117000 m2) had a construction budget TWD/Taiwan Dollar 5 billion (~USD 180 million / ~EUR 160M) and was slated for completion in 2017-Q4.

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