The Port of Southampton has been awarded ‘Port of the Year’ at this year’s global Seatrade Cruise Awards, held in Miami yesterday (28 September).

The prestigious annual event brings together cruise industry suppliers from 140 countries. The 2021 awards celebrate the successes and resilience of the industry after a challenging time.

As Europe’s leading cruise turnaround port, Southampton played a critical role in supporting this crucial sector through the past 18 months. This included working with partners to safely repatriate ships, crews and passengers during the voluntary pause in operations, and to successfully restart cruise passenger operations from the port in May this year.

Meanwhile, the port has invested in the future of cruise. On 3 July it welcomed the first cruise ship and passengers to its brand new £55 million sustainability-focused Horizon Cruise Terminal. Horizon features solar arrays and shore power, helping to place the port firmly at the forefront of the future of cruise.

Rebekah Keeler, Head of Cruise at ABP Southampton, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won the Port of the Year award at the Seatrade Cruise Awards. We welcome this acknowledgement of our important role in the global cruise industry. Southampton has a fantastic cruise infrastructure and partners so it’s great to share this accolade with our colleagues.”

About ABP (www.abports.co.uk)

ABP is the UK’s leading ports operator with 21 ports and other transport-related businesses creating a unique national network capable of handling a vast array of cargo.

The company contributes £7.5 billion to the UK economy every year and supports 119,000 jobs. Our current investment programme promises to further increase our contribution to regional economies around the UK.

ABP:

• Handles over 1.5 million vehicles every year
• Generates around one quarter of the UK’s rail freight
• Has 1.4 million square metres of covered storage
• Has 1,000 hectares of open storage
• Handles around 90 million tonnes of cargo each year
• Owns 5,000 hectares of port estate
• Has 87km of quay