Tourist development of the Overseas Harbour is one of the core tasks in promoting Bremerhaven tourism. After modernising the container viewing tower at the North Lock and making it more attractive, as well as establishing the Harbour Bus service from Schaufenster Fischereihafen to the container terminal and creating the 'Bremerhaven Sea Mile' guidance system for visitors, construction of a Visitors' Centre was started in 2003 in collaboration with the Lloyd shipyard. The Centre is designed at a high level of quality for two main target groups - visitors to the shipyard, and people interested in the port as a whole.

The basic concept was that the Lloyd shipyard, on behalf of BIS, would establish a visitors' platform for tourists at the same time as relocating management to the shipyard, rather like the centre at the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, and that BIS would acquire and operate the platform.

The platform rises almost 19 metres and is located beside the dry dock 30 metres from the ship fitting pier, and is now a tourist attraction that fits in well with the forward-looking concept for maritime tourism. The platform is now marketed as the 'Lloyd Shipyard/Overseas Harbour Visitors' Centre' by the Bremerhaven Tourist Office along the same lines as the Harbour Bus.

The visitors' centre is not open to individuals, but is operated as part of the 'Fish and Ships' shuttle bus service run during the summer months by VGB/BremerhavenBus. The route takes in Schaufenster Fischereihafen, the Kennedy Bridge, the 'Harbour Island' Tourist Centre and the Lloyd shipyard.