New £19m cruise liner terminal is dismantled

Oct 5 2007 EXCLUSIVE by Larry Neild, Liverpool Daily Post

Liverpool's cruise liner terminal (320)

LIVERPOOL’S £19m cruise liner terminal is to be dismantled, just two weeks after its official opening.

Two of the four floating pontoons are to be unhooked from the stage and taken to a dry dock at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead.

It is expected they will be there for a number of weeks undergoing stringent tests demanded by Lloyds Register.

Last night, Liverpool City Council insisted that contractors Balfour Beatty would be meeting the cost of the dismantling operation.

The emergency pedestrian bridge linking the landing stage to Princes Parade has already been moved by a heavy crane to pave the way for the dismantling. It has been placed in a nearby car park.

The dismantling operation comes after the highly successful opening of the cruise terminal on September 21, the day the QE2 steamed up the River Mersey.

Contractors had worked round the clock to get the landing stage ready in time for the grand opening ceremony which was performed by the Duke of Kent in front of an invited audience of 250 people.

The opening and the berthing of the QE2 went without a hitch.

Officials hinted at the time that there was still work to be completed on the terminal. But they insisted no final decision had been taken on the need to take it apart.

The four pontoons were moved into place just days before it was used for its first visit by the Seven Seas Voyager, followed a day later by a second ship, the German cruise liner Deutschland.

Its arrival off the Pier Head had been due to take place in June, but the worst extreme weather for a century delayed the plan.

Instead contractors had to wait for a window of calm weather to tow the pieces across the river.

Last night, a Liverpool City Council spokesman said: “Sev- eral of the pontoons will be mov- ed very shortly to a dry dock in Birkenhead for inspection

“Part of the contract we have with Balfour Beatty is to have the cruise terminal inspected as part of an independent verificat- ion survey. This work should have been done when the pon- toons were in the water, but poor visibility made the inspection work impossible. Two of the pon- toons were surveyed and exam- ined before the visit of the QE2, and now we want the others taken into dry dock. The two other pontoons passed their inspections.

“There is nothing wrong with the structure and this is part of a requirement by Lloyds Register. We want to stress this work does not indicate any problems with the landing stage. It was decided to do the work now because no more cruise liners are scheduled to visit before next spring.”

However, it is understood the Royal Navy was eager to arrange for several visits during the autumn by warships to make up for the cancellation of a visit by the aircraft carrier Ark Royal last month. That visit was called off because of the delays in completing the terminal.”

Last night, Labour leader Cllr Joe Anderson said: “We must ensure that everything is completed before any scheduled visits.

“It is all very well for the Liberal Democrats to say the terminal has been delivered on tract and on time because in their own documents it should have opened in 2006. Had it opened on time last year, we would have seen the Ark Royal and a number of other vessels that wanted to come here this year. We will watch with interest how things go with the terminal over the coming months.”