Here’s why a cruise ship has been spotted sailing up the Clyde – Glasgow Live

A luxury cruise ship sailing the Clyde isn't the first thing you'd expect to see in Glasgow, given everything that is going on.

That's why Twitter has been abuzz this morning, with surprised locals posting pictures of the ocean liner on social media.

And there was a bit of debate about what on earth was happening, since the vast majority of cruise holidays have been postponed in the midst of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

Luckily, we can clear things up.

Luxury ship Azamara Pursuit, which set sail from Miami, is returning with skeleton crews for a short-term berth at King George V docks in Shieldhall.

The 30,000-tonne ship, which has a crew of around 40 onboard, has not had any cases of coronavirus.

Harbour operator Peel Ports have confirmed that the vessel is the first of three ships to be moored at the dock near Braehead during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

David Huck, Peel Ports group managing director said: Due to the current suspension of the cruise industry, cruise lines require to moor vessels in ports worldwide. Like our counterparts in other countries, UK ports are already berthing cruise vessels on a temporary basis, including at Rosyth, Tilbury, Bristol and Southampton.

We currently have no plans to moor cruise ships at Greenock, but are due to receive the first of three cruise vessels for temporary berths at King George V Docks at the beginning of next month.

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These are vessels which have skeleton crews of around 40 crew members each and have not had passengers on board for many weeks. The vessels involved have been deep-cleaned, are free from Covid and will be on the high seas for at least two weeks prior to arriving on the Clyde.

There are literally hundreds of vessels arriving and departing from British ports daily, carrying vital goods and supplies, all subject to strict controls, statutory checks and regulations and these vessels are no different.

Inverclyde Council has been strongly opposed to cruise ships laying up on the Lower Clyde.

It comes following an ongoing dispute between the company and Inverclyde Council over the ships being docked in Greenock, with the local authority opposing the proposal.

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Here's why a cruise ship has been spotted sailing up the Clyde - Glasgow Live