Victor Sandison News

Lerwick Harbour’s record-breaking cruise season will hit the first of several milestones this season on Thursday (30 June) with the arrival of Azura, the largest cruise ship yet to enter the Shetland port. The P&O Cruises vessel will arrive from Akureyri, in north Iceland, en route for Kirkwall, Orkney, with around 3,100 passengers on a 14 nights’ round-trip voyage from Southampton. On her maiden visit, the 115,055 gross tonne Azura will break the port record set by Costa Pacifica, at 114,288 gross tonnes, in June 2011. The 290-metre vessel is scheduled to anchor at around 8am with passengers transferred by tender to Albert Dock where they will be welcomed by the volunteer Meet-and-Greet team.

The first cruise ship arrival of the year will enter Lerwick Harbour this weekend at the start of a record-breaking season which is expected to see the most passengers and vessels yet at the Shetland port, along with the highest gross tonnage of cruise ships, including the biggest vessels to date. • Almost 54,000 passengers are expected, up on the 2014 record of 43,273. • 78 vessels are currently due, beating the high of 52 in 2012. • The cumulative tonnage at 2,212,023 gross tonnes tops the 1,684,699 gross tonnes set in 2014. • The record for the largest cruise ship will be broken twice – by P&O Cruises 115,055 gross tonne Azura on 30 June, followed by Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Silhouette (122,210 gross tonnes) on 14 August, with around 3,100 and 2,900 passenger capacity respectively.

The Board of Lerwick Port Authority is strengthening its senior management team in support of continuing activity and development at the busy harbour. The move follows an external organisational review, particularly looking at the staff resource required to sustain the high level of activity in all areas including marine operations and managing its extensive property portfolio. Recruitment to a new position of Commercial Director will commence in the new year. There are currently two executive positions on the Authority’s Board with Chief Executive, Sandra Laurenson, holding one. Harbourmaster Captain Calum Grains has been appointed to the Board in the position of Harbourmaster and Deputy Chief Executive with immediate effect.

The arrival of the cruise ship Norwegian Star at Lerwick Harbour today (Thursday 25 September) marks the end of the Shetland port's best season yet, with two records achieved. Passenger numbers reached a new high at 43,056, topping the previous record of 37,572 in 2012, with the vessel tonnage figure of 1,682,985 gross tonnes exceeding the record of 1,531,097 gross tonnes two years ago. Making her second visit to Lerwick after a maiden call last year, the 294-metre, 91,740 gross tonne Norwegian Star arrived from Bergen, Norway, this morning with 2,282 passengers on board, leaving later in the day for Reykjavik, Iceland. She was the 49th cruise ship of the year at Lerwick where the early start to the season in March was delayed by bad weather in the North Sea.

Lerwick Harbour, Shetland Islands, Scotland, logs best cruise season yet, with number of vessels visiting setting four new records. 37,572 passengers, topping the previous highest figure of 30,843 in 2010. 52 cruise ships, beating last year’s record of 50. 1,531,097 gross tonnes of shipping, up on the previous record of 1,220,455 gross tonnes in 2010. 3,105 passengers on a single vessel at Lerwick - Costa Pacifica, on 2 July, passing her previous record of 3,007 in June, 2011.