The winners will be announced on September 16th during the Seatrade Cruise Awards ceremony
SANTO DOMINGO.– The Dominican Port Authority (APORDOM) celebrated the selection of Port Cabo Rojo, located in the province of Pedernales, as a finalist for the "Port of the Year" award at the prestigious Seatrade Cruise Awards 2026, which this year celebrates its twentieth anniversary.
The organization announced that Cabo Rojo was selected from over twenty finalists by an independent jury of fifteen professionals from the global cruise industry. In the "Port of the Year" category, it is competing against the Port of Portsmouth International (UK) and the Port of Skjolden (Norway)—two established leaders in the European cruise industry.
The winners will be announced on September 16 during the Seatrade Cruise Awards ceremony, as part of Seatrade Cruise Med, in the Port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
APORDOM highlights that the nomination represents international recognition of the development of the Dominican Republic's port and tourism infrastructure and confirms the country's position as a benchmark destination for the global cruise industry.
“The fact that Cabo Rojo is competing head-to-head with ports like Portsmouth and Skjolden confirms that the Dominican Republic is no longer just aspiring to a place in the global cruise industry: it is already occupying it. Every port that develops and distinguishes itself internationally strengthens the position of our entire national port platform,” declared the institution’s executive director, Jean Luis Rodríguez Jiménez.
The press release notes that the recognition adds to other recent achievements in the international projection of the Dominican port sector, including the Dominican Republic's assumption of the Principal Vice Presidency of the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP/OAS) for the first time and the designation of Santo Domingo as the venue for the 27th Ordinary Meeting of the CIP in 2027.
The entity reiterated its commitment to strengthening the national port infrastructure and developing an internationally competitive maritime-tourism ecosystem, for the benefit of the country's economy and tourism.
Recommended readings:
