Portsmouth International Port is ready for 40th-anniversary celebrations

Harbour master Rupert Taylor has been at Portsmouth International Port for 26 years and has overseen the port’s growing reputation for handling smaller luxury ships.

The new port terminal is worlds apart from how it looked when I arrived in 1990. One of the reasons I came here was because every two or three years there needed to be a major project of expansion, which makes Portsmouth International Port (PIP) such an interesting place to work.

I have seen the former Commercial Ferry Port grow into the International Cruise and Ferry Port from a relatively small footprint to extending the berths and creation of the new passenger terminal in 2011. In June 2016 the Cruise and Ferry Port will be celebrating its 40th anniversary, starting with the first ferry berth in 1976.

The new passenger terminal was a huge project, costing £16million, and a particular challenge because we had to keep the old terminal open while we were working on the new facility. It’s not as if you can just shut the port for nine months, so we swapped from the old to the new overnight.

The smart new building is very different from when the ferry port opened in 1976; the then wooden frame terminal building was extended and extended over the years until it was no longer viable.

The footprint of the Cruise and Ferry Port is now 95% reclaimed from the sea, and we have grown over the years to have this state-of-the-art passenger terminal which is very light and airy, offering a bespoke and flexible service to a range of visiting cruise and ferry vessels. It’s really impressive.

We also have a multi-storey car park with 24-hour security and one of our big assets is that we are on the M275 junction. There’s no struggling with traffic through the city, it’s just a 100 metres or so drive away, making it stress-free for starting or finishing a holiday.

Sailing into Portsmouth offers one of the best views for cruise passengers arriving or departing from any UK port. With HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and the warships lined up alongside the dockyard it makes for a spectacular view. Cruise passengers also sail past Southsea Castle and Gunwharf Quay’s tall ships – a wonderful memory to take away.

Next year will be even more exciting with the addition of a new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth berthed here. She will be an amazing sight, with the huge flight deck, and the cruise ships will be passing within a few hundred metres. Her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, will follow in 2018.

Portsmouth is the base for the America’s Cup World Series and passengers can also see the Ben Ainslie Racing Team on the water most days, practising off Southsea. It’s a fantastic sight when they get on the foils and speed along at 30 knots.

The Ben Ainslie visitors’ centre is at The Camber Quay, so cruise passengers can take a look and see the new carbon fibre boat which weighs less than a tonne.

The Port is also surrounded by many forts and castles including Southsea Castle, where Henry VIII is said to have watched as the Mary Rose sank in 1545 during battle with the French.

We are also fortunate to have the Emirates Spinnaker Tower, now resplendent in blue and gold. The tower is a beautiful place to relax by the harbour entrance and watch the warships, tankers, ferries, cruise ships and yachts go by. From the top you can see the whole of the Isle of Wight, across the Solent and over to Hampshire.

We actually say that the smart passengers stay local, because the beauty of the city is that its attractions are all within a few miles of the gangway.

We have an exciting season ahead starting with Minerva departing on April 15 and other ships include Serenissima, Ocean Nova, Silver Explorer, CMV’s Astor and Azores, Voyager, Hebridean Sky, National Geographic’s Orion and Sea Cloud II.

Saga Sapphire will also be making her maiden call on July 1. She will be a very welcome customer; in the past we have seen Saga Pearl II, Spirit of Adventure, Saga Ruby and Saga Rose.

It’s an unusual call because most cruise ships come in at dawn and sail at teatime but she will be in at 8am and stopping over before departing at 7am the next day. The passengers will be out at sea to watch the Round the Island Yacht Race so that will be very exciting for them.