Marking 20 years of cruising operations, Port of Tyne (South Shields, England) saw its first cruise call by Cunard's liner Royal Viking Sun (now Amera), on August 30, 1999.
Nearly GBP 8 million has been invested in the seaport's passenger facilities in the past 20 years, including GBP 5 million in transforming Northumbrian Quay into a purpose-built cruise ship berth. According to Graeme Hardie, head of operations at Port of Tyne, in the last twenty years, the port had welcomed more than 700k cruise passengers from a total of 60 different cruise lines on 450 calls.
Port of Tyne has become homeport for Fred Olsen's flagship Balmoral. In 2016, it handled 5 passenger ships in one day, one of which was Disney Magic.
In 2019, Port Tyne is due to welcome a record 59 cruise visits. As cruise vacations continue to evolve, so do the port's facilities: earlier in 2019, Tyne opened a new Marella Cruises' car park and baggage terminal. August sees it embark on a GBP 0.5 million project to widen Northumbrian Quay, thus ensuring North East England is cruising forward into the future.