Portland Port makes splash with twin christening

15/09/2025

Portland Port makes splash with twin christening

It was a double celebration at Portland Port when a naming ceremony was held for two new state-of-the art vessels. Dignitaries and guests watched the christening of the Wyke Castle tug and the Silverwell pilot boat on the port’s Dock Jetty before an exhilarating demonstration of the vessels’ capabilities. The multi-million-pound investment in the new for Portland Harbour Authority’ comes as the port continues to grow. It follows the opening of a £26m new deepwater berth in 2023. Portland Port chairman Christopher Langham was joined for the naming ceremony by the Naval Regional Commander for Wales, the West of England and Channel Islands, Commodore Tristram Kirkwood OBE ADC RN and Commodore Sam Shattock, Commodore of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ( RFA). A commemorative plaque was unveiled on the Wyke Castle before Commodore Shattock named and blessed the tug with a bottle of sparkling wine from the Langham Wine Estate. Mr Langham said: “We are here to name this fine tug boat and we also have a new pilot boat for good measure. We really now have the full toolkit and can go out and grow the business even further.” Commodore Shattock said: “It’s an amazing honour and privilege to be here to name this vessel.” He added ‘God bless her and all who sail in her’ before breaking the bottle against the ship. The ceremony also included a champagne reception and a lunch for more than 30 guests. They included the Mayor of Portland Town Council Cllr Charlie Flack and Mayoress Maria Flack. Crew from the visiting RFA Lyme Bay also attended along with businesses based at the port, councillors, representatives from Dorset Council, Portland residents and Weymouth Town Council Mayor Caroline Nickinson and Mayor’s Consort Richard Nickinson. Wyke Castle continued in the tradition of being named after local castles, apart from the previous tug which was named in honour of late Portland Port director Rupert Best in 2021. The port’s pilot boats are named after local wells with the Silverwell being the latest. Portland Port chief executive Bill Reeves said: “These new, state-of-the-art vessels represent further significant, multi-million-pound investment in the business. “They will enhance our capabilities and enable the growth of our business as well as that of our customers and tenants at the port while supporting the local economy.” The Wyke Castle joins the Rupert Best and Maiden Castle in the port’s fleet. She will be used for towage, manoeuvring and support for a diverse range of vessels, including cruise, merchant and MOD ships.

14/01/2025

Portland Port looks ahead to 2025 cruise season

Portland Port in Dorset is looking ahead to a bumper 2025 after it welcomed more than 117,000 passengers on a total of 52 cruise ships during 2024. It hosted calls from vessels on 10 out of 12 calendar months – all months apart from January and March - from 18 different lines carrying a host of different nationalities. The port also fielded more enquiries than ever before about unscheduled visits which resulted in a record nine short-notice stops, including Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 on June 1. These were due to weather conditions elsewhere or strike action in France. It was one of the port’s most successful years for cruise calls in its 28-year history. Highlights also included the first call by Princess Cruises’ 345-metre-long Sun Princess with 4,300 passengers in her maiden season. After ships docked at the port’s £26m deepwater berth, passengers disembarked for organised tours to a range of destinations or boarded the port’s complimentary shuttle bus service into Weymouth. The calls contribute circa £10m to the local economy, based on statistics from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) trade body for spend per passenger. Now the port is gearing up for the 2025 season when there are 60 cruise ships provisionally scheduled to call with over 100,000 passengers. This will include five turnaround calls by the luxury Hebridean Island Cruises’ Hebridean Princess, which carries just 50 guests. This year, 2025, will be the fourth consecutive season since Covid with over 50 calls and 100,000 guests. It will also be a record call number for a normal cruise season. There will also be inaugural visits in 2025, including the first ever calls by luxury cruise line Silversea and expedition cruise line Albatros Expeditions. The first call of 2025 was a short notice visit by the Spirit of Discovery, with just under 1,000 passengers onboard, at the start of a 49-day trip to the Caribbean and South America. It was diverted to Portland on 7 January due to weather conditions elsewhere. Passengers were taken on complimentary buses to stops in Portland and Weymouth on the evening of its arrival and during the next day, bringing an out of season boost to the local economy. Ian McQuade, Portland Port general manager commercial and chair of Cruise Britain, said: “It has been another highly successful cruise season and one of our best so far. “Positive feedback from cruise lines and their passengers demonstrates just how much they enjoy coming to Portland for the array of local attractions and warm welcome they receive. “The sustained demand for calls and the record number of short-notice visits is testament to relentless work behind the scenes by a dedicated team to attract and accommodate ships and bring circa £10m to the local economy. “It also justifies the faith shown to open our £26m deepwater berth in 2023 to accommodate some of the world’s largest vessels of up to 350m in length. “We are very grateful to all those who have contributed to the success in 2024 and have made passengers feel so welcome, including our dedicated welcome team, shuttle bus operators and all those in local shops and businesses. “We are looking forward to another busy season in 2025 and further ahead as Portland continues to grow in popularity.” At the end of 2024 Ian was re-elected to serve a further three year term as chair of Cruise Britain. He initially took the reins of the trade group in April 2023 on an interim basis before being confirmed in the role full time. Ian said: “It is a great honour to be the chair of Cruise Britain and I am delighted that my tenure has been extended by a further three years”. Among the lines to call at Portland Port in 2024 were Ambassador, AIDA Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Compagnie Française de Croisières, Cunard, Disney, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, MSC Cruises, Plantours, Princess Cruises, Ponant, Phoenix Reisen, Regent Seven Seas, Saga, Seabourn Cruise Lines and TUI Cruises. There were five double cruise call days when the port hosted two ships at the same time on its deepwater berth. They included October 15 when the greatest number of passengers – 7,954 – arrived in a single day on the Holland America Line’s Rotterdam and the MSC Cruise’s MSC Virtuosa. The highest number of passengers on any ship was 5,441 on the MSC Virtuosa when she called on October 15. Sun Princess, on her first voyage in UK waters has a gross tonnage of 177,882 and breadth of 42 metres, she is the largest ship in Princess Cruises’ 16-strong fleet and called at Portland after spending her first summer cruising in the Mediterranean. Ian McQuade and Sun Princess Captain Craig Street exchanged commemorative plaques to mark the ship’s inaugural call. There were a total of 11 inaugural calls, including the Queen Mary 2, German line Plantours Kreuzfahrten’s MS Hamburg, French line Ponant’s Le Champlain, CFC’s Renaissance, the Oceania Sirena, Seven Seas Mariner and AIDAsol. The final cruise call of 2024 was the AIDAmar on December 10 with 2,097 passengers. The £10m that cruise calls bring into the local economy is based on statistics from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) trade body for spend per head of passenger. The figure includes expenditure in shops, bars, cafes, tourism attractions along with transport and tours. In addition, further expenditure comes from the crew that are given time off when in port along with berthing revenues through the port itself and businesses in the local supply chain. Typically, about 50% of visiting cruise guests go on organised excursions, the majority of which stay in Dorset. Most of the remaining passengers explore the local area using the port’s complimentary shuttle bus service, either choosing to stay on Portland or travel into Weymouth. Some also use taxis to travel to and from Portland to Weymouth and local destinations. A variety of businesses benefit from cruise visits throughout the year, including off-peak calls in the autumn and winter. The port spends hundreds of thousands of pounds on its complimentary shuttle bus taking passengers from the port quayside to stops in Portland and Weymouth. Each year the port makes road space bookings with Dorset Council for the route its shuttle buses take for every cruise call. Portland Port has contracted a professional traffic management company for all cruise calls, which includes the provision of traffic marshals. It has also worked with the bus operator to stagger the arrival of vehicles and limit the number on the road at any one time. Operations and drop-off points are actively reviewed, which included Spring Road behind Hope Square and Commercial Road in 2024, with preparations still underway for 2025. The Portland Port estate provides employment for circa 300 people in non-seasonal work. The port itself directly employs 57 in this total. About half of the people employed live on Portland and the rest in Weymouth, or very close by. There are also indirect employees - such as hauliers and suppliers - as a consequence of direct employment.

12/07/2024

Surprise Cruise Ship Visits Boost Business

Unscheduled cruise calls at Portland Port over the summer so far have boosted the local economy by a bumper £750,000. Five liners – including the iconic Queen Mary 2 – have visited the port at late notice after being unable to stop at their destinations elsewhere. The Ambassador Line’s Ambience, Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess and SAGA’s Spirit of Adventure have also made last minute calls. Latest to visit was the German line Plantours Kreuzfahrten’s MS Hamburg with 360 passengers. It was the first time the cruise line and one its ships had called at Portland. More than 8, 500 passengers have arrived on these additional ships from mid-May to July as the port – and its Dorset hinterland – becomes established as a ‘go to’ destination on the cruise map. Based on industry figures from the Cruise Lines Industry Association (CLIA), the stops were worth in the region of £750,000 to the local economy. Ian McQuade, general manager commercial and chair of Cruise Britain, said: “It is always a pleasure to welcome cruise ships on unscheduled visits. “The unscheduled calls total five to date this year, out of 10 enquiries. They reflect the area’s increasing popularity for cruise calls and represent a further valuable boost of circa £750,000 for the local hospitality and tourism industry. “Our location, new deepwater berths which allow the largest cruise ships to moor alongside and our reputation for pulling out the stops to accommodate visiting vessels make the port an attractive proposition for cruise lines on both scheduled and unscheduled visits. “Our thanks go to our dedicated and responsive team, including our contracted shuttle bus operators and welcome team, who have been able to help us accommodate the unscheduled ships and their passengers at very short notice.” Cruise lines divert to Portland after being unable to enter their destination ports for a variety of reasons, including weather conditions or industrial action. The Queen Mary 2, from the prestigious Cunard Line, was on a short break cruise of French and Belgian ports when she was diverted to Portland due to strikes in Le Havre, France. Ian said: “The feedback we have had is that the crew and passengers on the Queen Mary 2 were very happy with their visit which coincided with the popular Wessex Folk Festival on Weymouth harbourside. “Although she has been to the port before, during Covid, this was her first transit visit and the first by a Cunard ship. “It represented another milestone in the development of the port’s cruise business and its support for local businesses and the supply chain.” Portland Port’s cruise calls bring in circa £10m per year to the local economy, based on statistics from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) trade body for spend per head of passenger. The figure includes expenditure in shops, bars, cafes and tourism attractions along with transport and tours. Portland Port expects to have welcomed 50 ships carrying more than 110,000 passengers by the end of 2024. Portland Port has invested heavily in its infrastructure over several years, the largest investment being £26m on its deep-water-berth, to increase capacity and capability. This has allowed the port to welcome larger vessels, including ships up to 350m in length on opposite berths on the same day. The Portland Port estate provides employment for circa 300 people in non-seasonal work. The port itself directly employs 57 in this total. About half of the people employed live on Portland and the rest in Weymouth, or very close by. ENDS