SMS International Shore Operations is to acquire the majority shareholding in a cruise handling company in Ireland, which will involve around 210 ships this year.
SMS International Shore Operations, a subsidiary of the SMS Group founded in Malta in the 1950s, is already the second largest cruise handling operation in the world, after giant TUI. In 2013, it will handle over 850 ships.
“We are very proud to be flying the Maltese flag in so many different countries,” managing director Sam Mifsud said.
He recalls that the decision to enter this field started on a plane trip from London to Moscow with his father Neville in 1996.
“We were already active in Malta and I had been pestering a British company, asking them to give us the agency in the UK,” Neville Mifsud said, adding that when one cruise company decided to drop the UK and move to Copenhagen, SMS opened an office there to be able to retain the contract.
SMS International Shore Operations was eventually formed and it handles cruise liners in Rome, Holland, Libya, Tunis and Copenhagen. The real breakthrough came in spring of 2012, when SMS opened an operation in Miami as SMS International Shore Operations USA, and rapidly expanded its list of clients, now handling Norwegian Cruise Line, Disney, Prestige Cruise Holdings and MSC at Miami and Port Everglades.
The level of activity has grown tremendously fast. In February 2013, the company handled four different cruise liners with 22,000 on board, requiring the input of over 350 SMS staff.
“It is hard to comprehend the logistical requirements of this many vessels.
“We have made a name for ourselves by being able to deal with whatever is needed, whenever it is needed – and believe me, all sorts of problems crop up that require immediate and decisive action,” Sam Mifsud said.
“It is all about offering good service.”
This year, in Miami alone, the company will handle nearly 300 cruise liners. The SMS Group handled its first cruise liner, the Cabo San Roque, in 1964. In Malta, it is by far the largest cruise handling company, providing ground arrangements for over 150,000 passengers and handling some 250 ships a year.