First cruise ship arrives at Portsmouth International Port

Yesterday saw Portsmouth Interntaional Port welcome its first cruise liner

The Classic International Cruises Athena docked at around 8am following a 40 day cruise from Australia via Christmas Island, Singapore, Piraeus, Phuket, Barcelona, Tangiers and Lisbon. Poertsmouth was the ships final destination

Passengers onboard the Athena were the first to use the newly built terminal which was part of a £16.5 million upgrade to the port. The new upgrades are designed to make the port a lot more accommodating for both cruise ship passengers and ferry passengers.

The port which is due to be officially opened on May 13th is an exciting addition to the UK’s cruise ports, with the industry booming there can really never be enough spaces for ships to dock

Martin Putman, port manager, said: ‘We are delighted to greet Athena and her passengers and are proud that at the end of a long voyage they will be welcomed to the UK through our spectacular new terminal. This is just the start of a busy season of cruise ship visits for us at Portsmouth International Port. The changes we’ve made are already attracting more business from cruise ship companies.’

Athena arrived with 250 passengers on board, most of whom were Australian. The ship is a living piece of maritime history. She started life in 1948 as an ocean liner and after a full refit and refurbishment in 2004 became a luxury cruise ship.

Athena operates in Europe during our summer and from Australia during our winter.

Between now and the end of December there will be 34 cruise ships calling at Portsmouth, an impressive amount for the port. They include three ships being based there by the All Leisure Group Limited, National Geographic Explorer and Fred Olsen’s Boudicca