Huge new Liverpool cruise terminal on the cards

A new study will examine the potential for a permanent cruise liner terminal in Liverpool, with the city council identifying the former Princes Jetty, located at Princes Parade, as a possible home for the building.

In response to the rapidly increasing number of vessels visiting Liverpool since 2012, which has leapt from 31 to 61, the authority will appoint a team to undertake an in-depth study into the design and cost of creating a terminal with the capacity for twice as many passengers as the current facility.

Four years ago the city saw close to 39k cruise passengers, but that figure is forecast to pass the 86k mark in 2016. As a result, the new terminal will be able to cater for 3,600 embarking and disembarking passengers at any given time.

If it goes ahead, the facility at Princes Parade would include a passport control checkpoint and passenger lounge, along with a café, toilets, taxi rank, vehicle pick up point, coach layover area and car park.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: “The temporary cruise liner building has been a tremendous success and served us well, but a city of Liverpool’s standing and ambition needs a permanent building if we are to continue the growth we’ve seen in recent years. It’s always been my ambition to develop an iconic terminal which makes Liverpool a world-class destination for cruise liners.

“What we are doing now is drawing up detailed plans which will give us a clear picture of the costs and then enable us to make a decision as to whether to proceed.”

He continued: “Clearly there will be a cost to the construction of the facility, but this will be offset by the hugely beneficial economic impact that passengers have when they spend money during their stay.

“There is still lots of work to do before we can give any scheme the green light, but the fact that we have identified a potential site which we are seriously looking at shows the importance we attach to the cruise market.”

The news comes as the Southampton-based Cunard Line, which considers Liverpool its spiritual home and gives its name to the grade II-listed Cunard Building on the city’s Pier Head, said the cruise terminal development could see it relaunch its historic transatlantic crossings from Liverpool.

Angus Struthers, a director at Cunard, commented: “Liverpool will forever be Cunard’s spiritual home, and, as the world witnessed with the Three Queens spectacular last May, the city’s pride in this association, and the level of interest in Cunard across the whole North West of England, remains strong.

“Though Southampton will remain Cunard’s homeport, we look forward to working with Liverpool to see how we can develop a great experience for our guests.”

He added: “In particular, we will be looking at how we might be able to incorporate Liverpool into Queen Mary 2’s iconic transatlantic crossings.”

A company is due to be chosen to carry out the feasibility study next month, with a final decision on the project set to be made later this year.

Liverpool’s current cruise liner terminal is believed to have generated £7m for the city’s visitor economy in 2015, up from £1.3m when it served as a port of call destination.

Cllr Wendy Simon, the city’s assistant Mayor and cabinet member for culture, commented: “There is always a buzz around the city when a big liner is in port and we know there is an appetite from the cruise lines to come to Liverpool.

“It is vital that we give passengers the best experience that we can and a larger, permanent facility would enable us to do that.”