Hong Kong: New billion-dollar cruise terminal to open this spring
Construction crews in Hong Kong are putting the final touches on a massive $1-billion cruise terminal that locals are calling a “groundscaper” because its length is double the height of the city’s tallest skyscraper.
The mammoth terminal will be capable of housing the world’s largest passenger ships.
The Cruise Terminal at Kai Tak, designed by British architect Norman Foster, is scheduled to debut in late spring and will be able to berth two Oasis-class vessels -- the largest cruise ships in the world -- at the same time.
“Hong Kong’s innovative Cruise Terminal at Kai Tak will set the standard for cruise terminals throughout the world,” said Bill Flora, U.S. director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, adding that the terminal is an “architectural wonder that offers stunning views of Victoria Harbor and the Hong Kong skyline.”
The terminal, built on the banks of East Tsim Sha Tsui on the former site of Kai Tak International Airport, will open in two separate phases in June of this year and in June 2014.
The super-size terminal -- 2,789 feet long – will have the world’s largest gangways, or passenger boarding bridges. And the three-story main building of the facility is designed to allow the clearance of more than 3,000 passengers an hour through immigration and customs.
Passengers with time to spare will be able to visit the rooftop garden; at 30,000 square feet, it will be the largest of its kind in the city.
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