On 21st May, coming directly from the STX Europe shipyard in Saint Nazaire at the mouth of the Loire river and near Nantes, in Brittany, arrives in Lisbon the MSC Divine, the third and newest member of the Fantasy-class flagship MSC Cruises, the 12th ship of the fleet.]]> The port of Lisbon will receive 13 inaugural calls this year, and already in May, with 6 ships calling the port of the Portuguese capital for the first time. On May 2 is expected the arrival of the Grand Holiday that belongs to the fleet of Iberocruceros, the first call in Lisbon is part of a cruise itinerary starting and finishing in Barcelona and calling the ports of Sète, Gibraltar, Mahon and Portimão.]]> The Port of Lisbon registered a 52% increase in the total calls of cruise ships between January and March this year compared to the total achieved in the same period in 2011. The first quarter was marked by a total of 35 calls, in contrast to the 23 recorded in the same period in 2011. There were 69,983 passengers at the city of Lisbon during this period, an increase of 52% compared with the 46,083 passengers recorded in 2011. This growth is accounted for by cruise operator Aida Cruises - which nearly doubled the number of calls, compared to 2011 as well as cruise ship Independence of the Seas, that registered an increase of the number of calls and brought 23,025 passengers to Lisbon during the first quarter of 2012 ]]> Port of Lisbon will be promoting the cruise activity in Cruise Shipping Miami, the leading worldwide event of the cruise industry, which will be held from 12 to 6 March at the Miami Convention Center. Together with the other Portuguese cruise ports of Leixoes, Portimão, Azores and Madeira, the Port of Lisbon will be in Portugal stand, booth 747 ]]> In 2011 Port of Lisbon registered a new record in cruise activity with 502,644 passengers and 330 cruise calls. This is the first time the port welcomes more than half a million passengers and it is a great result for Lisbon. The number of cruise calls is also a record. These values represent an increase of 12% in terms of passengers (448,497 tourists recorded in the previous year) and 10% in terms of cruise calls (299 in 2010) ]]> The Port of Lisbon recorded growth of 9.8% in the quantities of merchandise handled in December on a year-on-year basis and accumulated growth of over 2.7%. Solid bulk with a major increase of 19.2% and Containerised Cargo with an increase of 9.4% were the main aspects responsible for the increase in merchandise handled in December. The accumulated amounts of solid bulk with a 6.2% increase and Containerised Cargo with a 3.4% increase were the main aspects responsible for the increase in merchandise handled in 2010 ]]> On January 10th 10 the ship “GRANDE CONGO”, the latest construction of the Italian shipowner Grimaldi made a stopover at the Port of Lisbon on its inaugural voyage. The placement of new ships on regular Lines with a stopover in Lisbon is very important for the Port of Lisbon as well as for the Portuguese market, thereby contributing to an increase in the competitiveness of the services rendered by the port community of the Port of Lisbon ]]> In 2010, 448,497 cruise passengers visited the port of Lisbon, representing an 8% increase related to 2009. This growth was particularly determined by the 19% increase in transit passengers, which totaled 395 884]]> On 4 November, the Port of Lisbon launched the book “Terminal de Cruzeiros de Lisboa” (Cruise Terminals of Lisbon), simultaneously inaugurating an exhibition of the responses to the tender for the project relating to the future cruise terminal in Lisbon. The book, edited by Kaleidoscope, brings together the projects presented by the competing architects]]> Lisbon was the third port of call on the maiden voyage of the new Queen Elizabeth on 15 October. The voyage began and ended in Southampton, on 12 and 25 October respectively, calling at Vigo, Cádiz, the Canary Islands and Funchal]]>