Until the 1960s the only way to cross the Atlantic was by ship, and one of the main UK departure ports was Liverpool.  Two of the greatest Atlantic shipping lines, Cunard and White Star, were based in the city.  At the height of their popularity the lives of thousands of people on Merseyside were linked with the Atlantic liners, as passengers, crew, employees and suppliers. A liner at sea was a self-contained world.

 Liverpool Waterfront from Birkenhead 1805

Cunard had its beginnings in 1838 when Canadian shipping magnate Samuel Cunard, along with engineer Robert Napier, and businessmen James Donaldson, George Burns, and David MacIver formed the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. The company successfully bid on the rights to run a transatlantic shipping company between England and America. Later, it would change its name to Cunard Steamships Limited becoming the greatest name in ocean travel in history.

In 1840 the company's first steamship, the Britannia, sailed from Liverpool to Boston marking the beginning of regular passenger and cargo service. Cunard faced many competitors from Britain, the United States and Germany but survived them all. This was mainly due to a great focus on safety. Cunard ships were usually not the largest or the fastest, but they were the most reliable and the safest.

The prosperous company eventually absorbed Canadian Northern Steamships Limited as well as Cunard's principal competition, the White Star Line, owners of the ill-fated RMS Titanic.

For more than a century and a half, Cunard dominated the Atlantic passenger trade and was one of the world's most important companies.

In the 21^st century almost all Trading from Liverpool to the USA is from the giant container base at Seaforth Docks.  Today, it handles more container trade with the United States of America and Canada than any other port in the land. Other developments in the global container market have opened up a whole range of new routes for shippers moving their goods through the Seaforth Terminal, adding further benefits to a facility already acknowledged as Britain's most efficient container gateway.

The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company's decision to look at developing a river container terminal capable of handling the new generation of larger post Panamax vessels reflects the new dawn Liverpool is facing. Other elements of the Port's diverse range of cargoes have added further optimism to the Port's prospects with new trades and rising volumes which totalled a record 32,226,000 tonnes in 2004.

But an increasingly significant influence upon Liverpool's success is the Port's geographic location as the gateway to the second richest cargo hinterland in the country and its ease of access by road and rail.

The good news is the building of a new Cruise Ship Terminal at the Pier Head, now once again the biggest liners in the world can visit the Mersey on a regular basis.

Liverpool can once more look forward to a new chapter in it's Maritime History, with thirty to forty international cruise liners expected in the first year.

This is a vitally important development not only for the city, but for the whole region.

The Trans-Atlantic bridge between Liverpool and America is strengthened, and Liverpool can once more become The Gateway To America.

QE 2 at the new Cruise Ship Landing Stage - 2007.