Pompey stabs Southampton in back in cruise war (From Daily Echo)
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Liverpool and Portsmouth team up to lure away Southampton's cruise trade
5:20pm Wednesday 23rd September 2009 in Search
Crown Princess on Rver Mersey next to Pier Head
PRIVATE memos seen by the Daily Echo reveal Liverpool and Portsmouth ports have teamed up behind the scenes to lure away Southampton’s lucrative cruise business.
The letters between the bosses of the two rivals show how they are co-operating to try and seize a piece of the booming cruise trade.
Liverpool port bosses wrote to Portsmouth seeking their support for controversial plans to allow luxury liners that are currently only able to visit its docks to instead start using it as a base to start and end voyages, known as turnaround cruises.
In return they offered their backing for Portsmouth’s own dreams to grow its fledgling cruise operation.
Because it was built with £20m of taxpayers cash, the plans to alter the use of Liverpool’s cruise terminal at the city’s historic Pier Head – once a gateway for millions of transatlantic passengers, have infuriated Southampton port owners ABP, which has invested £41m in the cruise business here since 2004.
They accused Liverpool and Portsmouth of being “in cahoots to try and get one over Southampton” and of using taxpayers’ money to “distort the market”.
An e-mail from Liverpool cruise manager Angie Redhead to her opposite number in Portsmouth discussing the change of use, said: “Considering your own aspirations to grow the turnaround business in Portsmouth, there is some operational similarity.
“Would you be prepared to put a few words via e-mail to confirm you as a southern UK port would not have any objection to our change of designation.
“Should it be helpful to Portsmouth in anyway, Liverpool Cruise Terminal would support and reciprocate in the future.”
Similar e-mails were sent to a number of UK ports but Southampton says it never received one.
Portsmouth bosses, who were the first UK port to respond, said: “I can confirm Portsmouth Commercial Port would not have any objection to the conversion of the Pier Head cruise facility status to accept turnaround cruise vessels.
“We support all UK cruise operators who sail from UK ports and strongly believe that their success leads on to our success with more opportunities for all UK ports by growing the market.”
Southampton port director Doug Morrison said: “It makes me laugh.
If you were contacting a cruise port on the south coast, would you go to Portsmouth? That shows you they are worried about competition.
“We are concerned that obviously Portsmouth and the likes are in cahoots with Liverpool to try and get one over on Southampton. It is not how we should be doing business.
“We have no argument with Liverpool City Council. We know how important the cruise business is and how it can be used to regenerate a city. But taxpayers’ money distorts the marketplace.
We have got no problem with competition and if they paid back the taxpayer we would have no qualms at all. But at the moment it is not a level playing field.”
Portsmouth port director Martin Putman said: “It is a very competitive market and everybody is in competition in some ways. We believe that attracting more cruise ships to the UK is good for all.
“I can understand Southampton’s position in terms of being a competition problem with Liverpool getting something for free. But it’s not unknown.”
He said Portsmouth benefited from Southampton dock’s success.
“More of our ships are turnarounds this year than we had visiting. We had 20 this year, so we are not exactly a huge competitor to Southampton. They are mostly smaller ships and I think of it as complimentary to Southampton because when there is no room on the cruise terminals they come over to Portsmouth. It’s good for the region.”
