Ocean Terminal (Southampton) 'officially' ten years old

Ocean Terminal is officially ten years old today. On the 29th May 2009 the new Ocean (Cruise) Terminal was officially opened by Doug Morrison (now OBE), Port Director at ABP Port of Southampton (at the time), and David Dingle CBE, CEO at Carnival UK.

Invited guests including, 120 members of the general public who entered and won a competition in the local Daily Echo newspaper, attended the official opening of the new terminal and were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the impressive facility after the formalities had concluded.

Alongside on the day was the P&O Cruises vessel Ventura which was making her second turnaround call at the terminal.

There were, in fact, eight cruise ship calls between the first call on the 9th May (Oceana) and the official opening which gave the state of the art terminal a chance to ‘bed in’ prior to the big day.

To celebrate the occasion of the official opening of Ocean Terminal there was a brass band, champagne for all guests and then at 4.20pm the unveiling of the official black granite plaque by David Dingle CBE having been introduced by ABP Port Director Doug Morrison OBE. Speeches and photo opportunities then followed and Terminal Manager Andy Owens closed the proceedings before all the guests had the opportunity to wave the Ventura off upon her departure.

After the Ventura departed further refreshments were served as a magician worked his magic on the guests who shortly afterwards were treated to a grand tour of the Ocean Terminal, with official terminal guides being Andy Owens, Tom Dynes, Stuart Marsh, Rob Chandler and Glen Gardner (all ABP Southampton employees at that time).

The day then finished with Keith Hamilton, from the Daily Echo newspaper, speaking about the cruise industry and its rapid rise and positive impact on Southampton.

The new terminal formed part of a new 20 year agreement between Carnival UK and ABP Port of Southampton which cemented the close relationship between the giant cruise company, which owns P&O Cruises, Cunard Line and Princess Cruises amongst many other major cruise lines, and ABP which has delivered Southampton with a new iconic landmark building.

Worked commenced on the new terminal in 2008 and it was completed on budget and on time at a cost of ￡19 million, despite some challenges with contaminated soil.

The new Ocean Terminal is located on berths 46 and 47 at the west side of the Ocean Dock (formally White Star Dock) in the Eastern (old) Docks, Southampton.

Prior to the new Ocean Terminal being built the site was used for vehicle import / export storage, grain silos and passenger and cargo terminals for the ocean liners.

On duty for this auspicious occasion at the stunning new cruise terminal were Andy Owens, Ocean Terminal’s Manager, Christopher Smith the Terminal Liaison Officer, as well as hundreds of staff from the ground handlers, stevedores, cleaners, catering staff, P&O Cruises / Carnival UK, G4S security, port staff and others.

Also in port that day was Norwegian Jade, alongside 101 berth City Cruise Terminal in the Western Docks.

The new Ocean Terminal has been well received and has seen over a thousand cruise ship calls in the ten years it has been in operation. 

Built to handle cruise ships with up to 4,000 passenger capacity on over seven acres of land the terminal is built over two floors and has 9,100m2 floor area, the baggage hall alone is 3,300 m2 (equivalent to 14 tennis courts), Ocean Terminal has a contemporary and distinctive design. The impressive new terminal is engineered in a unique way to provide one of the most robust and energy efficient facilities of its kind in the world using a building management system (BMS) to control the heating and lighting.

A state of the art FMT ship to terminal air bridge completed the terminal facility and gave Southampton its first purpose built ‘cruise’ terminal.

Over the last ten years the terminal has been improved and enlarged a number of times with the most recent enhancements being made in readiness to welcome P&O Cruises’ Iona in 2020, an investment of ￡12m.

During the life of the Ocean Terminal to date there have been a number of high profile events and new ship naming ceremonies including that of Royal Princess, Azura, Queen Elizabeth and Britannia which have brought royalty and celebrities to the Port of Southampton.

In 2012 the there was a large event to mark the departure, and later sinking, of the RMS Titanic. The Titanic 100 event will live long in the memory of all who attended, most of whom were relatives of those who were onboard the doomed liner. 

Opposite the new Ocean Terminal on the other side of the Ocean Dock was the site of the original Ocean Terminal built in 1950.

Article written by Glen R Gardner