£19m cruise liner stage to be ready in weeks

Mar 22 2007 by Larry Neild, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL’S new £19m cruise liner landing stage is to be floated into place in a matter of weeks.

The concrete stage is being built in three segments at Canada Dock which will be bolted together and floated into the river in May for the short journey to its new berth.

The boost for the Mersey comes as it was revealed the cruise company that starred in the television hit, The Love Boat, is to bring one of its flagship liners to Liverpool four times during the city’s culture year.

The Grand Princess, which carries more than 3,000 passengers and 1,500 crew, will dock at the 1,000ft-long berth in the river after adding Liverpool to its 2008 itinerary.

The arrival of one of the world’s biggest cruise liners is a major coup for Liverpool as hundreds of construction workers race to complete the new landing stage in Canada Dock.

The Grand Princess is owned by the world’s biggest cruise company, Carnival, which owns Cunard and the QE2 and QM2.

A drilling platform is being used off Princes Dock to construct the piles and anchor points needed for the new cruise facility.

The big test will come on July 29 when the first cruise liner ties up to offload 1,100 sightseers close to the Liverpool waterfront.

Angie Redhead, the city council’s cruise manager, said last night: “Everything is on schedule and going according to plan. It is an exciting time for Liverpool and comes as the interest in cruise holidays has moved to a new level.

“Balfour Beatty is doing a fantastic job in Canada Dock and it is terrific to see so many local people employed in the construction of the new stage right here on the Mersey.