THERE were three cheers for Southampton’s new £19m Ocean Terminal, which officially opened yesterday.

The futuristic shaped passenger terminal in the Eastern Docks, right, will now become home to some of the world’s largest and most famous ships, which, due to the position of the berth, will add a dramatic new aspect to the city’s skyline.

Designed to handle many thousands of the estimated 980,000 passengers who, this year, will cross the Southampton docksides as they embark and disembark the growing numbers of vessels.

Named after Southampton’s former, vast, art-deco style, Ocean Terminal, which stood for more than 30 years, from the early 1950s, on the other side of the dock, the new building is equipped with state-ofthe- art systems for luggage handling, passenger check-in, security and communications as well as the latest green technology for heating and lighting.

The new Ocean Terminal will now be home to the rapidly expanding fleet of Southampton based cruise ships operated by Carnival UK, which includes well known names such as Cunard, P&O Cruises, and Princess Cruises.

Among the specially invited guests at the opening ceremony were 120 lucky Daily Echo readers who were on the VIP list after winning tickets in a competition, run in conjunction with Associated British Ports, owners and operators of the docks, and cruising