German ship makes stopover on Kalanggaman Island

PALOMPON, LEYTE, Philippines – A German luxury cruise ship with 365 tourists and 269 crewmembers on board made a stopover at the world-renowned Kalanggaman Island in Palompon last Dec. 29.

It was one of five stops of MS Europa of Hapag-Lloyd in the Philippines during a 14-day voyage, according to Palompon Vice Mayor Georgina Arevalo.

It is the second time that the ship made a stopover at the island.

Europa’s skipper planted a marker on the island to mark the day in 2013 when it first made a stopover at Kalanggaman.

Since then, the island has become a regular stopover for Hapag-Lloyd cruise ships in their Asian island destinations.

Two other cruise ships of the company have stopped at the island: MS Europa II and the MS Breman.

Palompon Mayor Ramon Oñate and other town officials are happy that Hapag-Lloyd has continued to make Kalanggaman a stopover for its cruise ships, even after super Typhoon Yolanda pummeled the island in November 2013.

The island was ready to receive visitors by January 2014, two months after Yolanda hit, through the help of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Oñate said.

Palompon makes more than P200,000 from every stopover of cruise ships through entrance and environmental fees, including income of local businesses from selling souvenir and native items to visitors, he added.

Considered the “crown jewel” of the tourism corridor of Northwest Leyte, Kalanggaman island has landed in the list of the 10 most beautiful sandbars in the world.

Hapag-Lloyd describes MS Europa as its “most beautiful yacht.”

Its Christmas tour sailed from Singapore on Dec.  12 and made stops at Bintulu in Borneo, Muara in Brunei, Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan in Sabah.