Greenwich cruise liner dock to be port for West End visitors

 
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26 April 2012

Greenwich is set to join New York, Hawaii and the Caribbean as a cruise ship destination after plans for a huge dock were approved.

It will be located between the O2 arena and the Cutty Sark at Enderby Wharf in the royal borough, with a fast clipper shuttling passengers to the West End in 20 minutes.

Plans for the cruise liner dock have been given the go-ahead by Boris Johnson and could be completed in two years.

This would allow cruise ships up to 240 metres long — almost as big as Titanic — to dock west of the Thames barrier for the first time, rather than docking at Tilbury, 22 miles from Tower Bridge.

With each ship carrying up to 3,000 passengers, this would deliver a huge boost to the royal borough’s economy. Liners would begin or end their cruises in Greenwich, coming from as far afield as New York.

Backers insisted there would be no risk to other Thames vessels as each ship would have a locally trained pilot on board to navigate the estuary.

Captain Michael McCarthy, incoming chairman of Cruise Europe, which represents operators, said there was no need to worry about a disaster similar to that of Costa Concordia, which capsized off Italy in January, killing 32 people.

He said: “With Concordia, there wasn’t a pilot on board. With Titanic, there wasn’t a pilot on board. If you look at the cruise industry, it’s one of the safest holidays you can take.”

A 251-bedroom hotel and 770 homes will be built alongside the dock, which will stick out about 75 metres into the Thames. About 100 ships a year are expected to use the dock. Developer West Properties refused to reveal the cost of the project, which is backed by Morgan Stanley.

Greenwich council leader Chris Roberts said: “When somebody said ‘We can put a cruise liner dock here’, we didn’t have to think. It was a no-brainer.”

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