MSC Cruises, the Geneva based cruise shipping company, said it would commit at least one ship to be based in the UK for the duration of a strategic partnership agreement with Associated British Ports (ABP), which owns the port of Southampton.

“MSC Cruises has confirmed that there will be at least one ship home porting from the UK for the duration of the partnership as well as several of the Companies (sic.) large fleet of 17 ships visiting the port and the UK, as a destination on sailings including grand voyages, northern Europe adventures and transatlantic crossings,” the company said in a statement.

Antonio Paradiso, MD MSC Cruises UK & Ireland said: “MSC Cruises is serious about the UK market and now more than ever we believe in the potential here and making this long term commitment to bringing even more passengers to Southampton is evidence of that.”

“ In 2017 we invested in a new office in the UK, we then focused on growing our teams and putting the right expertise in place to ensure we can provide the best possible support to our passengers and our travel agent partners, and now we are really proud to be further investing in the UK cruise industry at this incredibly important time for both the industry and the UK economy in having a home for our ships here in the UK.”

MSC Magnifica is earmarked to make 21 cruises from Southampton in 2021.

The agreement with ABP is the next step for MSC Cruises as the brand has gradually increased its presence in the UK market to support the growing demand from UK & Irish passengers. “Feedback from both guests and travel agents following the first full season sailing from the UK was incredibly positive which has driven the decision to strengthen the relationship with the port,” the company said.