Speciality Cruise Ship Visits Boost Tourism in North Carolina Ports' Communities

Shore excursions to Carteret County's Town of Beaufort and Shackleford Island and Wilmington's Thalian Hall and Bellamy Mansion highlighted the itineraries for port calls October 18 and 19 at the Ports of Morehead City and Wilmington. The cruise ship, CALEDONIAN SKY, brought 92 passengers and 71 crew members to the North Carolina Ports communities as part of a two-week voyage offered by the U.K.-based cruise line, Noble Caledonia. Noble Caledonia offerings feature specialty and small ship cruises. This voyage showcased New England's fall colors and Southern Colonial architecture with port calls from Nova Scotia through Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. According to a Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) 2007 study, each cruise ship passenger spends an average of $123 per U.S. port-of-call visit. It is estimated that each crew member spends an average of $49 per visit.

Volvo Group has announced a $10 million, 40,000-square-foot expansion to its Technical Center on its Greensboro campus and also said that it will be expanding even further. At the Port of Wilmington, Volvo imports components for their manufacturing operation in Dublin, VA. The Volvo Group, which includes Mack Trucks, Inc. and Greensboro-based Volvo Trucks North America, is one of the world’s leading truck, bus, and construction equipment manufacturers. Along with additional testing space and truck bays, the completed expansion of the technical center doubled the size of Volvo’s design studio, which supports new truck design and development. Volvo also added to its test track to allow for testing of heavy-duty truck performance. Volvo employs about 2,000 people in the Triad.

Shipments of steel rail for track maintenance and repair projects were discharged at the Ports of Wilmington and Morehead City during the end of October. The ship, BBC WINTER, unloaded nearly 9,000 tons of rail at the Port of Wilmington for CSX, then headed for the Port of Morehead City to unload about 2,000 tons of rail for Norfolk Southern. CSX provides daily service to the Port of Wilmington, while Norfolk Southern has provided regular train service to Morehead City for seventy years.