Minister Sacramento attends Britannia naming ceremony in UK
Minister for Tourism, Equality, Social Services and Housing, the Hon Samantha Sacramento MP
has attended the naming celebrations of P&O Cruises’ new cruise ship Britannia, which took place
in Southampton today. The Britannia will visit Gibraltar on her maiden voyage on March 17th
2015. However, Britannia's first port of call on leaving the shipyard in Italy was Gibraltar, as she
called in on a technical stop on Tuesday 3rd March.
Her Majesty The Queen accompanied by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh performed
the naming ceremony in a special dockside ceremony at the Port of Southampton’s Ocean
Terminal.
As is traditional on such occasions, a bottle of sparkling wine from the Wiston Estate Winery in
Sussex, UK, was smashed against the side of the ship. In addition a Nebuchadnezzar of the British
Brut NV was used, while thousands of bottles of Brut NV and Rosé Vintage 2011 have been
available during various programmed festive events starting on March 9th.
Minister Sacramento declared she was proud to represent Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar
at the ceremony in an official capacity as a reminder of the close links and naval ties between
Gibraltar and Southampton.
The Minister said: “I was extremely pleased to have been invited to the celebrations and naming of
the new P&O vessel as this company is a very important customer for Gibraltar. I am also very
excited that the Britannia will be making an inaugural call at the Port of Gibraltar later this month
during its maiden voyage. Britannia will deliver passengers to Gibraltar as one of the 216 vessels
scheduled to visit Gibraltar in 2015. This sees an increase in calls over last year and will no doubt
be welcomed by Gibraltar's tourism, hospitality, transport and retail industry."
Minister Sacramento was accompanied by Gibraltar Tourist Board Chief Executive Nicky
Guerrero.