Ports Review - Cruise Ships

• Published date: 09 February 2023
• Subject Matter: Transport, Marine/ Shipping
• Law Firm: Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP
• Author: Shepherd And Wedderburn LLP

In this second article for the ports review, Jamie Grant, Partner in our property and infrastructure team, expresses his optimism over the ongoing investment towards Scottish ports.

It was a surreal and highly visible sight. Three ships belonging to the cruise line Azamara came sailing into the King George V Dock in Glasgow, to be laid up there for a year in 2020 as Covid wreaked havoc with the travel industry. When they finally sailed away again in 2021, hundreds of people lined the bank of the Clyde to see them go and wave them off. The cruise industry has since revived and the pandemic is now something of a memory, offering opportunities to Scotland's ports to regenerate and grow their suddenly stalled cruise business.

Over the last two decades or so, cruising has increased in popularity and Scottish harbours have taken advantage of this. Not everyone wants to sail off to the sun and Scottish destinations have proved popular for culture and history voyages in particular.

Ports such as Greenock and Invergordon have become well established in this area of activity - not as destinations in themselves, but because they offer suitable anchorages convenient to tourist spots such as Glasgow, the Highlands and Edinburgh. They also have sheltered and deep water and can accommodate large vessels, including some of the biggest in the world.

The outbreak of Covid dealt the industry and Scotland's ports business a major blow. 'It basically became completely inactive', explains Jamie Grant, Partner in our property and infrastructure team. 'In 2022 the sector came back, though it's not quite at pre-Covid levels yet. Lerwick in Shetland, for instance, has said that its business is about 30 per cent below what it was. This feels pretty typical of the whole Scottish cruise market.'

Other suitable Scottish docking ports for cruise liners include Leith (through lock gates) and Rosyth on the north bank of the Forth. Other Scottish cruise ports include Oban, Ullapool, Orkney, Scrabster - 'people want to go and see the Castle of Mey, where the Queen Mother lived' - Aberdeen, Montrose and Dundee. Stornoway is another destination, and the harbour there is being expanded with a new deep-water quay, partly to accommodate the growing cruise ship business. When completed by 2024, it will be able to berth vessels up to 360 metres, making it the only port in the north west which can receive large ships.

The new terminal will be within walking distance of the centre of the town and...