During the peak cruise season at the Port of Southampton, it's not unusual for the Solent Stevedores team to handle between five and ten ships from Friday through to Sunday. For every cruise turnaround, our team plays a vital role in ensuring each vessel departs on schedule with precision, efficiency and accuracy. But what happens behind the scenes to make that possible? "It's a bit like training for a marathon," says Zak McElvenny, Operations and Compliance Director. "The hard work is done...

Congratulations to our Assistant Operations Manager, Scott, who has qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France, following an outstanding performance at a recent Ironman 70.3 middle-distance triathlon. Competing against a field of 1,260 athletes, he secured one of just 30 qualifying places, earning the opportunity to compete at one of the sport's most prestigious events this September. Having taken part in triathlons since 2018, qualification has been a long-term goal....

Solent Stevedores recently welcomed a group of Network Rail representatives for the day to observe operations at the Solent Rail Terminal.  Activity included some of our key service arrivals and departures as well as discharge and loading.  Mark Hooper, Director of Rail and Containers, said: “Across an incredibly busy 18 acre yard, we work closely with our rail partners to ensure the smooth and accurate handling of cargo on our 770m of track. A big thank you to the team for joining us for...

On the 18 May we celebrate the women in our award-winning team. Globally, women make up 1% of the maritime workforce (which includes seafarers). At Solent Stevedores women make up 18% of the team.  The International Maritime Organization (IMO), introduced this day of recognition for the under-represented half of the population to shine a light on their achievements and to encourage more women into the industry.  On this day, we wanted to introduce you to many of the women in our team and hear...

Solent Stevedores’ latest investment in the cruise infrastructure at the Port of Southampton involves the introduction of new welfare facilities at cruise terminal berths. These facilities are for the operational teams during the cruise season where the team is expecting to welcome more than 400 cruise calls in the year.   Later in the cruise season, new baggage handling equipment will be the next phase of investment.

As part of our ongoing programme of training and upskilling for our team members, 21 of our team took part in Fire Marshal and Fire Extinguisher training.  This takes place every three years and ensures we remain compliant from a health and safety perspective with our operations. The training included a mix of classroom and practical lessons.

National Apprenticeship Week is an opportunity to shine a light on Apprentices around the country, so we wanted to put our own Apprentices in the spotlight celebrating their contribution to Team Solent as we support them in the early stages of their careers in the maritime industry.  Apprenticeship programmes are designed to maximise the learning opportunities for young adults, but we also benefit from the enthusiasm, insight, and ideas they bring to the task.   Alongside their...

Continuing our commitment to set the right standards here at Solent Stevedores and following a recent audit at our Southampton operations, our teams have successfully achieved certification of ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. These standards are usually audited every year across cruise, bulks, rail, and container operations to ensure the teams are meeting the high international standards. In addition, this year our London Gateway team was also audited against this criteria and was successful. This...

Earlier in the year we introduced you to Phoebe as she began her apprenticeship in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, a couple of months down the line we’re checking in with her to see how it’s going.  Phoebe’s hands-on training continues, and she has expanded her skill set to Tug driving. With 12 acres of laden container storage and a capacity for a maximum of 15 rail services a day, the Tugs are heavy-duty piece of kit that the team uses for quickly and easily moving containers or trailers...