The World, which is 644 feet long and consists of 165 privately-owned residences, berthed at Greenock Ocean Terminal on Sunday (28 August) and will remain docked there until Tuesday. It has continuously sailed the globe since its launch in 2002, travelling across every ocean and continent on Earth and docking at a variety of locations, allowing its residents to disembark and explore.
Each year The World’s global travel itinerary is decided collectively by its residents and captain. The ship’s 2022 journey began in Pacific North America before travelling onward to the Pacific Islands and then to South America and the Caribbean.
The World boasts an exceptionally luxurious onboard lifestyle with six restaurants, Michelin-star chefs, a cinema and lecture theatre, fitness centre, clothing boutique, two pools, putting greens and the only regulation-sized tennis court at sea. Its international residents can attend discussions with experts in science, culture and travel, partake in yoga classes, avail of spa treatments, take a diving lesson or take part in water sports off the ship’s marina platform.
Peel Ports-owned Greenock Ocean Terminal, located on the Firth of Clyde, is experiencing its busiest year for cruises since before the pandemic. As many as 140,000 passengers and 35,000 crew members are expected to pass through the port throughout 2022, a marked recovery following the major disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jim McSporran, Clydeport Port Director at Peel Ports said: “Welcoming cruise ships to the UK from all over the world is a huge part of our work at Greenock, and it doesn’t get much more impressive than The World itself. We’re very pleased that Greenock has been chosen as one of the destinations for this year’s journey and we hope the residents of The World thoroughly enjoy their stay.”
The World’s visit to the terminal forms part of the Northern European leg of its journey; its residents have already explored Gijon, Santander (Spain), Nantes and Lorient (France). The ship will remain docked at Greenock Ocean Terminal until Tuesday, after which it will travel onward to Amsterdam, Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Hamburg (Germany), Stockholm, Visby (Sweden), Gdansk (Poland) and finish its Northern European journey at Copenhagen (Denmark).
Throughout the remainder of the year The World will visit the North Atlantic, followed by the Mediterranean and the Middle East, with its residents ringing in the New Year in Dubai.
The World’s visit comes ahead of the completion of a new £19.2 million cruise ship visitor centre later this year at Greenock Ocean Terminal. It is estimated the development will increase visitor numbers to 150,000 a year and provide a £26 million boost to the Scottish economy.
Peel Ports is a partner in the Clyde Green Freeport bid along with AGS Airports’ Glasgow Airport, Mossend International Railfreight Park in North Lanarkshire and a partnership of the Glasgow City Region councils.
The multimodal initiative would attract major new investment, develop global trading opportunities, create tens of thousands of new jobs, accelerate net-zero objectives agreed at COP26, and take the region’s world-class innovation economy to the next level.