Tuesday, February 4, 2020 - 13:19 by ce-press
Solent Stevedores is currently making preparations for the arrival of P&O’s new flagship: Iona. The largest vessel to be purpose-built for the UK market is set to arrive in Southampton in May 2020, sailing seven-night itineraries to the Norwegian fjords.
The logistical challenges behind servicing a vessel of this size and scale are highly complex. An average turnaround day for Iona will see around 18,000 items of luggage handled and in the region of 500 pallets of fresh produce, technical and hotel stores being loaded.
Handling this volume of cargo in such a narrow time window and in a confined space
requires meticulous planning and a highly skilled and choreographed workforce able to work across multiple parts of the ship and cruise terminal simultaneously.
Preparations for Iona have been ongoing for nearly two years, involving a team effort between Carnival UK, Associated British Ports, and other terminal service providers such as security contractors, ground handlers and delivery companies.
Solent Stevedores handles 700 turnaround calls annually across two main operating bases: Southampton and Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore. In Southampton this year the company will provide stevedoring services to 421 vessels, handle nearly three million items of luggage, assist over 1.8 million passengers, and load approximately 120,000 tonnes of cargo to cruiseships.
