Maltese company to handle over 1.4 million cruise passengers annually in Miami

SMS International Shore Operations Ltd, a subsidiary of the SMS Group, has been officially appointed by Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) to handle all of the line’s cruise operations out of Miami, Florida, as of February 2012.

SMS managing director Sam Mifsud commented: “This is undoubtedly an enormous show of confidence in our company by a major international player in the cruise line industry, thanks to the reputation that SMS has gained over the years with all major cruise liner companies.”

SMS have been at the forefront in the provision of shore services for visiting cruise liners in Malta for a number of years. Since May 1996, however, the company’s shore handling operations expanded beyond these shores when SMS were appointed agents for Norwegian’s Cruise Line calls in Dover, UK.  Since then, SMS’ relationship with this prestigious global company has grown from strength to strength and today, SMS International Shore Operations handle cruise liner calls for NCL in Malta, Rome, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Copenhagen. NCL currently owns and operates 11 cruise liners, while another two new ships are planned. Although SMS has been handling cruise calls for various major cruise line companies around Europe and North Africa for the past 15 years, this will be the first time the company is extending its operations across the Atlantic to the United States.

From February, SMS will be handling both vessel turnarounds in Miami as well as shore excursions for at least 240 cruise line calls annually. This translates into approximately 1.4 million passengers every year.   

Mr Mifsud said this was a significant milestone for a Maltese company. “This success could only have been achieved through hard work, keen attention to detail and genuine efforts to retain costs within reasonable levels whilst retaining a professional class of service. SMS today enjoys a relationship of complete mutual respect with NCL, which we look forward to fostering further and consolidating,” he concluded.