The Captain of the Port, John Ghio, has welcomed the Costa Diadema cruise ship on its inaugural  visit to Gibraltar, in the absence of Minister for Tourism, Vijay Daryanani, who is currently away  from Gibraltar on Government business. 

A statement from the Government follows below:

The Costa Diadema cruise ship arrived at the Gibraltar Port on Wednesday 11th May at 13:00hrs  from Lisbon, Portugal and departed later on that night to Cartagena, Spain at 23:55hrs. 

The ship measured 302 meters in length and features a total of 1,862 cabins that can accommodate a maximum of 4,947 passengers and 1,253 crew members. On this occasion the ship was carrying  1,710 passengers and 1,041 crew.  

CEO and Captain of the Port, John Ghio, took part in the traditional exchange of plaque ceremony  with Captain Antonio Tommaso Tateo from the Costa Diadema outside the cruise terminal.  

Minister for Tourism, Vijay Daryanani MP, said: “The inaugurals keep on coming thick and fast and  this can only be good news for our economy. There are a few more scheduled this month and I  couldn’t be happier. This shows that our marketing is taking effect and the hard work that goes on  behind the scenes is producing results. This is only the beginning and there is a lot more to be done.  For as long as I am Minister for Tourism I will keep on working at full throttle to make Gibraltar the  premier cruising destination in the Mediterranean.”