Ferry News Archive
Early work begins to give ferry port new look for the future
Date: 04 Aug 2009 00:00 Source: Portsmouth.co.ukPreparation work has begun on a multimillion-pound project to replace Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port's tired and ageing terminal.
Around 370,000 paving blocks are being laid on the two-acre site where the new £15m terminal will stand.
And construction work has also begun on a new building for the port's stevedores – the dockers who load and unload ships – in readiness for the destruction of the old building later this year.
It is just the start of the multimillion-pound development, which port boss Martin Putman said cannot come soon enough.
'It'll be a massive update to what's now a very dated facility,' he said.
'The current terminal was built in 1976 and was put up as a temporary building.
'We've done all we can to it to make it a better experience for passengers but there is a limit and it needs renewing.
'We also need it to cope with cruise passengers coming in.
'These people expect a higher standard now than in 1976, and the current terminal is not really reflective of the experience people get on board luxury ferries, or in Portsmouth today.'
The port said it expects 22 cruise ships will have visited Portsmouth in 2009, and is angling for 'more than 25' of the lucrative tourist stops in 2010.
Martin Dennison, from the Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Partnership, said the city badly needed a bigger and better gateway.
'For years it's been getting old and decrepit, and it's so important for people arriving in Portsmouth because it may be one of the only things they see in the city,' he added.
'It's like airports – a kind of "welcome to the country".
'I have heard some people saying it's not the best design it could be.
'But my own view is that it seems spacious and from a passenger and visitor point of view the most important thing is to process them quickly and efficiently.'
Construction work on the terminal is still awaiting approval from Portsmouth City Council, but Mr Putman said he is confident it will be given the go-ahead.
The new terminal is planned as an open-plan glass building close to the site of the current terminal, and work is expected to begin around November.
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