A cruise ship was not put off by barge protests as it sailed into a Dorset port a day early this week.

Norwegian Dawn arrived into Portland on Monday afternoon (July 10) but had been expected to dock at 11am this morning (Tuesday, July 11).

This is the vessel's fifth visit to the port this year and it is due to visit another four times during the cruise season.

A Port spokesperson said that the Norwegian Dawn came in early because of 'bad weather elsewhere', adding its arrival ahead of schedule 'had nothing to do with protests'. 

Another cruise ship that was supposed to dock at Portland at the weekend skipped the port out of safety concerns caused by protests over the asylum seeker barge.

The Regal Princess was scheduled to dock on Saturday whilst on a 12-day round trip of the British Isles.

The decision was made out of safety concerns regarding protests on the isle against Home Office plans to house 500 asylum seekers on a barge at Portland Port.

Carrying 2,332 passengers, American cruise liner Norwegian Dawn has 14 decks and was built in 2002. The vessel was named by British-Canadian actress Kim Cattrall.

It flies under the flag of the Bahamas and measures 295 metres in length and following a refurbishment in 2021, can also hold more than 1,000 crew members.

It is understood the Bibby Stockholm barge could arrive over the coming days and protestors were out in force for another demonstration at the weekend despite poor weather.