£50 million Mersey cruise terminal in Liverpool

Liverpool City Council has submitted a planning application for a new £50 million Cruise Terminal Facility on the River Mersey.

The council is looking to create an ‘international standard’ permanent facility which would let the city welcome the world’s biggest cruise ships.

The application includes the controlled removal of Princess Jetty and the construction of a new terminal set within a statement building, based on a new suspended deck structure in the river.

The council wants to capitalise on the cruise boom by creating a state of the art passenger and baggage facility, complete with passport control, lounge, café, toilets, taxi rank and vehicle pick up point, to cater for Liverpool’s growing appeal in the cruise industry.

The current terminal, which welcomed more than 60 vessels with 120,000 passengers and crew this year, generates more than £7 million annually to the city’s economy.

The application is expected to be heard in January 2018. If approved, site preparation is expected to start in Spring 2018.

The council is currently inviting tenders to select a Design and Build Contractor to construct the facility. This is a two-stage contract award basis, with the first stage to develop the design and confirm the construction costs with appointed consultancy firm Ramboll UK.

Tenders are also being assessed for the site investigation works needed at the Princes Jetty site and it is expected those works will also start in January next year.

Further planning applications could potentially include supplemental projects with a new 200-room hotel and 1,700+ multi-storey car park to enhance the city’s capabilities in handling the next generation of turnaround cruises, which could carry up to 3,600 passengers.

Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, said: “A new cruise facility is one of the city’s most important regeneration projects of this decade and is vital to growing Liverpool’s tourism economy.

“We want to provide the next generation of super liners and their passengers a world class welcome with a five star experience.

“A new cruise facility will also be a huge boost to our plans to regenerate the North Liverpool docklands and create thousands of new jobs which is why we’re putting together the best team of experts to ensure we build this facility to the very highest standards.”

Ian Pollitt, assistant project director, Liverpool Waters, said: “We are delighted at the progress the city council is making with the new terminal proposals. We are working very closely with them and our other partners to progress the development and this planning applications is a major milestone in that process.”