The River Mersey is a busy shipping lane with a huge variety of vessels arriving every week.
Keen ship spotters always love it when a cruise ship sails in and, following the pandemic, it was one of the first signs of the tourism industry coming back into the city. Liverpool has already welcomed dozens of ships this year, with many more on the horizon.
Last year, a total of 90 cruise ships on round-Britain tours visited the port and people living along the river will be well accustomed to hearing the horns of the floating hotels ringing out over the Mersey. But some may not know the number of bursts and their length of the horn blasts means different things.
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We have looked at what some of the different horns mean so next time you hear them sound, you will know if the ship is arriving, leaving or if it is in trouble and needs help. These all refer to inland waters as in open waters, in some cases, they refer to something slightly different.
One short blast - means the ship is changing course to starboard (to the right). In open waters this means a ship passing on the ship's starboard side.
Two short blast - means the ship is changing course to port (to the left) In open waters this means a ship passing on the ship's port side.
Three short blasts - means the ship is operating in reverse. This means the same in open waters.
Five short blasts - this is the ship's danger signal in both inland and open waters.
Two long blasts - this means the ship is leaving berth.
Visitors from passing cruise ships are estimated to bring in between £13m and £15m each year to the local tourism economy.
Speaking recently to the ECHO about the cruise ships coming back to Liverpool after the restrictions of the pandemic, John Mawer who is the Head of Cruise Operations at Liverpool Council, said: "This is our first full season and it's good to see the cruise terminal back in action again and operating to nearly its full capacity. Even last year, we managed to bring in 90 cruise ships when domestic travel was re-introduced as part of the road map for emerging from the pandemic.
"Cruises were included in that thanks to lobbying from the industry. This was only a slight drop from the 105 cruise operators we had pre-pandemic. Under the road map, only round-Britain trips were allowed for vaccinated passengers. In other words, this meant the destination was the ship, which was like a floating hotel. It fell under domestic travel guidance, and was open to UK citizens in UK territorial waters."
He added: "It does feel like we're back to some normality. In one week, we had 10,000 visitors from a range of different ships. The feedback's been great. The minute passengers step off the gangway, they get that famous Scouse welcome."
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