Poole Harbour will welcome thousands of cruise ship passengers to the south coast this summer, with the completion of South Quay, the world’s newest cruise berth.

Completion of the £10m South Quay project concludes Poole Harbour Commissioner’s ambitious 7-year expansion, said to be one of the biggest port developments seen on the south coast in recent years.

South Quay is a 200m long x 40m wide deep-water quay that provides 9m in depth to accommodate vessels up to 220m in length. This has seen the Port’s capacity for conventional cargoes, yacht liners and special project cargo increase and will facilitate the ever-increasing interest from cruise ships wishing to visit Poole and the surrounding area.

The development has enabled the port to accommodate bigger ships, carrying over 1000 passengers.

South Quay has been operational for cargoes and yacht transfers since the beginning of the year, but the completion of the surfacting work means that Poole is now ready to receive its first cruise ship of the season this month.

Variety Cruises and Cruise & Maritime Voyages have already announced South Quay for their 2018 sailing routes and discussions have begun with several other interested companies.

Jim Stewart, CEO of Poole Harbour Commissioners said: “This is an incredibly important milestone for the port and we are confident that Poole will become a key port for cruise companies going forward. Poole Harbour is the largest natural harbour in Europe and is widely recognised for its spectacular natural beauty. We have many stunning tourism attractions on our doorstep, including the world heritage Jurassic coastline, historic castles, stately homes, and more. There is so much that we have to offer.”

Stewart continued: “Cruise ship calls to Poole will double in 2018 and, we are anticipating, will double again in 2019. South Quay enables us to take advantage of the ever popular and rapidly expanding cruise ship market. This will bring much valued revenue and opportunities to Poole’s economy and beyond.”

Bob McGowan, head of customer services for Cruise & Maritime Voyages advised: “We offer cruises from more UK ports than any other. For the first time this August and September, ,we are delighted to be operating a choice of cruises sailing from the new South Quay at Poole. This new development has enabled us to offer convenient cruise departures to the people of Dorset and beyond and we are very pleased with the close co-operation we have established with the port. Such has been the high booking response to these cruises that we are offering an expanded programme from South Quay in March and April 2019.”