Southampton Docks is due to handle a record-breaking number of cruise ship calls this year.

The city can once again boast being the country's premier cruise port with more luxury ships arriving and departing in Southampton than all the rest of the UK docks put together.

At the latest count 158 separate calls have been booked for 2001 which means a hectic and profitable time for the many local companies supplying the vessels with services and stores.

Among the ships, not previously seen in the port, set to be sailing up Southampton Water before the end of the year are the 50,000 tonne Seven Seas Mariner, Renaissance Cruises' R Eight, P&O's brand new megaliner Golden Princess and the innovative three-masted sailing cruise vessel, Sea Cloud II.

April will also see Crystal Symphony, recognised as one of the world's most sumptuous ships, arrive for a visit, in May the ultra-luxurious Seabourn Sun returns to the port while in June P&O Cruises repositions the 44,348 tonne Royal Princess in Southampton for a series of European voyages.

There is also a suggestion that Royal Caribbean International's massive 140,000 tonne, Adventure of the Seas will make a brief stop-over in Southampton early in November on her way from the builder's yard to her home base in America.

One of the main operators to benefit from the city's cruising boom is the stevedore company, Southampton Cargo Handling.

SCH has been working closely with Associated British Ports, owners of Southampton Docks, in ensuring that a growing list of major international cruise lines pick the city for calls by their vessels.

Based in Phoenix House in the Eastern Docks, SCH's activities include baggage and stores handing, mooring and ancillary services.

Cunard and P&O Cruises will continue to be the company's major cruise clients.

Although P&O's Aurora, Oriana, Arcadia and Victoria will provide the major source of SCH's work with the shipping line, the stevedores will also be serving the newly built Golden Princess and Royal Princess.

Queen Elizabeth 2 and Caronia will be the mainstay of SCH's business with Cunard, while other clients will include Fred Olsen Line's Black Watch and Black Prince, Sun Cruises' Sundream and Saga Cruises' Saga Rose.

Bill Ware, SCH's managing director, said: "Our cruise business has grown steadily and we expected to handle around 150 ship turn-arounds this year.

"This will equate to more than 300,000 passenger movements and many thousands of tonnes of stores, and we will be working hard to maintain the five-star service that cruise lines using Southampton have to come to expect.''