By
Cherie Rowlands |
The London Cruise Terminal at Tilbury is investing £2 million in rebuilding the centre and final section of its Grade II-listed landing in a move that will enable the port to accommodate Panamax ships.
Upper and lower sections of the landing that were rebuilt a few years ago will be in use throughout the project work, which is expected to be completed in May 2014.
The passenger landing stage was first opened in 1930 – comprising 350 m of floating quayside, along with passenger reception and a grand hall – and it is this facility that is being rebuilt.
“Opened in 1930, London Cruise Terminal has served the London river community for over 80 years as a passenger ‘gateway’ to and from London and the country,” Port of Tilbury Freeport marine and cruise manager Captain Richard Exley said. “In his address at the opening ceremony chairman of the London Docks, Sir Josiah Stamp said of the new Tilbury passenger terminal that it was ‘putting London in its proper place as a first-class passenger port with facilities no less advanced than those of ports on the Continent or in any part of the world’. This aspiration remains as relevant in 2013 as it was in 1930.”
Repairs to the roof of the baggage & customs hall and the cupola are also underway at a cost of £250,000. Annual funding of £550,000 is transforming the hall into a waiting lounge with seating for 750 passengers, along with a cafe, wifi and toilets, while the current smaller lounge will be used by the UK Border Agency.
As part of the overall project, the disused Tilbury Riverside Railway Station will be refurbished and brought into use as a 18,000 m2 baggage reclaim area with toilets, offices and restrooms for terminal staff, ship agents and the UK Border Agency.
On 5 January, Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ Marco Polo is set to sail sail from Tilbury to the Amazon, West Indies and The Azores, in the port’s first cruise call of the 2014 season. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has 27 calls booked and both lines have outlined visits for 2015 and 2016.