The introduction of new short sea shipping lines and a surge in perishable cargo helped container throughput at the French port of Dunkirk reach record levels in 2013.
Port operator GPMD said box volumes increased by more than 12 per cent in 2013 to 292,000 TEUs. This included a record 500,000 tonnes of perishable cargo, driven by products such as citrus fruit. In total, perishable volumes were up 25 per cent on 2012.Earlier this week, the Port announced that the Del Monte group had selected Dunkirk as the import gateway for its banana shipments from Cameroon transported by CMA CGM’s West Africa service.
Speaking at the presentation of French Channel port’s annual figures, GPMD director Christine Cabau-Woehrel, said the port’s objective for 2014 was to capture more of the deep-sea trade in order to reach a container throughput of 320,000 TEUs. She said Maersk is poised to begin direct calls at Dunkirk from Asia.
