1990 - 2008
The 12 months to April 1991 saw 781,000 passengers use the Port, together with 219,000 passenger vehicles, 41,067 trade cars and 96,759 freight units. Over 2.35 million tonnes of conventional cargo were handled.

Poole became home to a superferry on the 4th April 1992 when Truckline’s brand new ‘Barfleur’ the largest vessel ever to serve the port, arrived on her maiden crossing. PHC carried out a series of port improvements to accommodate her including dredging the main shipping channel and constructing an upper deck linkspan at Ro/Ro berth 3. This popular vessel is very much part of the local scene and provides a wonderful sight leaving the harbour, passing the Sandbanks Chain Ferry which plies the entrance.

A bitter blow came in 1994 when it was announced that BCIF had been taken over by Weymouth based rival CONDOR FERRIES and the service would cease on the 22nd January.

The shipbuilding and repair yard J. Bolson and Son established in 1922 was purchased by PHC in 1994. The yard was eventually disposed of, the last vessel to be built there being PHC’s tug ‘Herbert Ballam’.

On the 26th January 1997, Condor Ferries 41 knot passenger and vehicle catamaran ‘Condor Express’ entered Poole for the first time. From the 1st March Condor services from Weymouth transferred to Poole which also saw the passenger only Condor 9 operate to Jersey and St. Malo. Their headquarters moved to the Port at the same time where improvements totalling £600,000 were made, including armouring the sea bed at Ro/Ro berth 2 with hundreds of tons of rock to resist the thrust from the catamaran’s powerful engines.

In 2006 the harbour was again deepened to a depth of 7.5m to accommodate the needs of modern ferries and vessels, the majority of which now have a minimum draught of over 6.5 metres. 500,000 passengers are carried from Poole with a further 80,000 freight units transported to and from Cherbourg. The Port also handles approximately 600,000 tonnes of conventional cargo.

Today the Port of Poole continues to thrive and in late 2007, the Brittany Ferries ‘Cotentin’ the largest ferry to use the port arrived to commence sailings from Poole to Cherbourg and Santander.