From next year, larger ships carrying up to 1,000 passengers will be able to dock at the newly expanded South Quay in Poole.

The £10 million development is the first phase of the Poole Harbour Commisioners’ masterplan to develop shipping and cruise line arrivals at the port.

The newly expanded South Quay is scheduled to be operational from January 2018. It will offer longer and deeper facilities for ships.

Construction of the new quay required 1,700 tons of steel piles, all of which was delivered by sea.

In addition, 150,000 cubic metres of sand material has been used during development with reclamation fill taken directly from the port’s maintenance dredging scheme.

With repair work taking place at nearby Poole Bridge, this has removed the need for additional congestion through road deliveries and enabled the use of a ‘waste’ product in the new construction.

Work underway on the new South Quay in Poole

The project was overseen by the civil engineering company, BAM Nuttall Ltd.

Once finished, the 200m long x 40m wide deep water quay will be over 9m in depth and able to provide accommodation for vessels up to 200m in length.

This will increase the port’s capacity for conventional cargoes, and facilitate the ever increasing interest from cruise ships wishing to visit Poole and the surrounding area.

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Jim Stewart, PHC’s Chief Executive said: “We are very pleased to be nearing completion on this exciting first phase of Poole Harbour Commissioner’s masterplan for the port. Progress has been well managed and serves as a testament to the skilled contractors involved.

“This expansion is essential to competing on a grander shipping scale and opens the doors to a greater variety of customers coming to Poole Harbour in the future. Response has been very positive so far. We are confident Poole will become a key port for cruise companies in the coming years.”

Discussions are underway with a number of interested companies, while Cruise and Maritime Voyages have already announced South Quay as a new cruise port for sailing routes in their summer and autumn 2018 programme.

Around 25 cruise ships are expected to dock at South Quay in 2018, bringing much valued revenue to Poole’s economy.