PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles “basically broke even” on the May 12 visit of the giant Holland America cruise ship MS Zaandam but it was an economic boon for the community, Port commissioners heard on Monday.
Port Deputy Executive Director Dave Hagiwara briefed the three commissioners on the visits of the Zaandam as well as the considerably smaller Empress of the North last week.
The 780-foot-long, 10-story-high Zaandam was chartered by Cruise Plus Management Ltd. for a three-day roundtrip cruise out of Vancouver, British Columbia, on May 12-15.
The cruise ship stopped in Port Angeles for about seven hours, bringing as many as 1,200 tourists to downtown businesses.
The Port received $17,000 in revenue from the Zaandam’s visit, including $9,500 in dockage fees and $7,500 in head taxes for the 1,650 passengers, which was about a $4,000 incentive discount, Hagiwara said Monday.
Additional expenses
But the revenue was offset by additional expenses for extra labor, security, portable toilets, fencing, gangway rental from the Port of Seattle and other costs, he said.
