The number of cruise ship calls this year at Liverpool in the UK is about to reach the level that had been expected in 2020, but despite the quick recovery the timescale for a new, larger cruise terminal remains uncertain.
In a report, Liverpool Council's City Assets Manager Angie Redhead said: "Remarkably, the recovery in 2021 has been rapid; 107 cruise calls are confirmed, 40 of which are Turnaround calls (passengers starting and ending their cruise in Liverpool), generating an income of circa £1.5 million."
This compares with 108 calls that had been scheduled for 2020, but only Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady actually called before the Covid-19 pandemic suspended cruise operations. So far, 103 cruise calls are expected for 2022
The council is currently assessing timescales for taking the new cruise terminal project to the next stage. However, it stated that it "remains committed to the cruise terminal scheme and the return of passenger shipping to its world famous waterfront."
The present cruise terminal can handle calls by very large ships due to its deep draft etc. However, as a small temporary structure is being used for checking passengers in etc. only vessels of about 1,200 passenger capacity can be handled on turnaround calls.
Not all recent news have been good, however. The demise of Cruise & Maritime Voyages last year impacted the turnaround business in Liverpool as the company had one ship based there for several months each year.
However, Fred. Olsen Cruise Line, another traditional turnaround operator in the city, has based Borealis (in photo above), one of its two acquisitions from Holland America Line, in Liverpool. The city has also benefitted from the domestic cruises that have been operated in the UK since restrictions were lifted in mid-May.
While the city council owns and operates the cruise facilities in Liverpool, the cargo port belongs to Peel Ports, which is part of the privately owned Peel Holdings group.
