An £18m investment has kick-started port’s plans

KEY to the port’s ambition is an £18m funding shot in the arm delivered last summer.

Portsmouth City

Council owns Portsmouth International Port, and is its key financial backer.

The council agreed to fund changes to berths at the port. It’s hoped the council’s investment will pay dividends to protect local services for residents.

As reported in August last year, this means a potentialy doubling – from 50 to 100 – of vessels stopping at the port in a year.

Last year there were around 50,000 passengers at the port over 50 vessels.

The expansion did cause concerns that there could be traffic lockjams, as are often seen in neighbouring Southampton when cruise ships are in.

But in Portsmouth, the port and political leaders are confident that would not be the case.

A Portsmouth International Port spokeswoman previously said: ‘Cruise lines usually manage passengers by staggering their arrival and having various check-in times throughout the day, so traffic would continue to flow easily.

‘The port’s location and direct access from the motorway makes it ideally placed to handle additional passengers with minimal impact on the city.’

Parking will be available either in the port’s car park, which has 500 spaces, or the city’s park and ride that is due to be expanded with an additional 1,000 spaces.

The extra passengers set to be seen in Portsmouth will be a mix of day visitors and those departing from the city for a long cruise.