Short-sea operator MacAndrews has added an extra service between Bilbao and the Port of Liverpool meaning it will now make the journey four times a week.
The firm’s new vessel, the Flintercape, will also make Liverpool its first call after departing from Bilbao. Its new service will call at Liverpool on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
The news is the second expansion of container services into the Port of Liverpool, with Metro Shipping confirming last week that it has relocated some routes from the Far East into Liverpool, instead of southern UK ports.
Metro Shipping, which acted on behalf of Beneficial Cargo Owners, said the move was in response to increasing costs and delays resulting from traffic congestion and driver demand in the south.
“The Port of Liverpool provides a strong link in the UK consumer supply chain, and is an increasingly important entry port for refrigerated container movements of fresh produce to supermarket distributors,” said MacAndrews managing director, Geoff Smith.
“In addition to the growing volumes of general containerised cargo, it is this increasing sector of the market from Southern Spain into the northern half of the UK which is driving the expansion of MacAndrews’ services into the port.”
Group commercial director of Peel Ports, Patrick Walters, said: “This is a very good result for us, with one of our long-term customers expanding its services and we’re grateful to MacAndrews for continuing to place its faith in the Port of Liverpool as a reliable and cooperative partner in its growing operations.'
Peel Ports last month revealed it is investing £300 million in a new container terminal, Liverpool 2, as it said there is a “clear shift of logistics and distribution patterns” towards Liverpool as the nearest port to market.
MacAndrews provides ocean and land transportation services and specialises in 45' high cube pallet wide containers. It serves the UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Poland, Scandinavia, and Russia.
