Fim will handle baggage, stores loading and mooring during cruise ship calls at the UK ports
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Southampton Cargo Handling (SCH) is to provide stevedoring services to all cruise ships calling at Liverpool Cruise Terminal in the UK for the next three years.
Contracted by Liverpool City Council, SCH will handle around 60 cruise ships per year at Liverpool Cruise Terminal for two years with an option for a further year. The new contract will become effective at the start of the 2016 season in May.
SCH’s sister company Cruise and Passenger Services (CPS) already provides valet car parking services for passengers joining cruise ships in Liverpool.
“We were impressed by SCH’s range of capabilities and their extensive network of cruise operations spread throughout the UK,” said Angie Redhead, manager of cruise and operations at Liverpool Cruise Terminal. “Liverpool is growing fast as a turnaround and day call cruise port and we need a reliable, efficient port handling operator. We are confident that SCH can provide us with that service based on observations in other UK ports, as well as the experience we already have working with CPS in valet car parking.”
SCH will provide baggage handling, stores loading and mooring services for the cruise ships and plans to use up to 50 personnel for stevedoring and valet car parking operations.
“We are delighted to be awarded the contract and are committed to helping Liverpool grow as a cruise port, both for turnaround operations and as a cruise destination,” said Kevin Hulme, director of SCH. “We will be employing locally based workers to supplement the workforce we already manage in Liverpool as part of our CPS business. As cruise ship handlers, we provide services for more than 300,000 passengers a year and we look forward to helping Liverpool continue to build its reputation as a leading force in the UK cruise business.”
SCH and CPS are also set to handle cruise calls in Southampton, UK after winning a contract to service Saga Cruises’ ships for the next three years. The company already provides services for ships in the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises fleets.
From April, SCH will handle baggage, stores loading and mooring for ships including Saga Cruises’ Saga Sapphire and Saga Pearl II, and Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas and Independence of the Seas.
“Having extended our cruise ship handling to other UK ports, it is great to see us building business in the port where the company originally started operations,” said Lee Davis, SCH’s business development manager. “This is good news for our core workforce and our agency subsidiary, Pathfinder Personnel.”
SCH’s sister company Southern Maritime Services will handle 36 cruise calls at Portsmouth International Port, including maiden visits from Lindblad Expeditions’ Orion, Noble Caledonia’s Sea Explorer 1 and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Bremen.