Maltese firm SMS has won the contract to handle Norwegian Cruise Line’s operations in eight East Coast ports, with just weeks to set up its infrastructure.

SMS International Shore Operations, a subsidiary of the SMS Group, established itself in 2012 in Miami, handling NCL’s vessels, building on a partnership that already covered shore operations in Denmark, the UK and Rome.

That operation has grown dramatically, and SMS-ISO already handles around 90 per cent of all the traffic in Miami, for several companies as diverse as Carnival, MSC and Disney. The company already employs 1,200 people there.

“The first call of the new contract is on May 5 and we have to have everything in place,” SMS-ISO managing director Sam Mifsud said from his office in Malta, carefully watching a live webcam feed from Miami, where it handles some 800 calls every year – a total of 3.2 million passengers this year.

The new contract covers eight ports: Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Victoria in Canada, and Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Astoria in the US. SMS-ISO will be port agents, ground operators and shore excursion handlers.

The contract will involve 300 calls a year (1.2 million passenger movements) and will require 600 new staff to be recruited.

SMS-ISO has since 2012 extended its NCL contract in Europe to the Netherlands as well as adding other cruise lines.