The new service will improve the options for overseas firms importing from the northern half of the UK, whether directly via the Port of Liverpool or through Rotterdam.
BG Freight currently handles around 650,000 TEU annually. The new Greenock service is expected to add an initial 4,000 TEU per year. The service is also expected to carry around 3,000 empty TEU allowing for more efficient repositioning for shipping lines in Scotland.
Koert Luitwieler, CEO BG Freight Line and Shipping Director PPG said: “The combination of our port network, our existing feeder services and this new route allows us to provide international traders with a way to minimise costs, carbon emissions and congestion. As well as helping to meet increasing demand now, the extra option we can now offer importers and exporters will complement the Liverpool2 container terminal that will open in December this year.”
Peter Samuels, Category Manager Global Freight, Diageo said: “We are very supportive of this new service as it offers an efficient short-sea logistics connection out of the west coast of Scotland into deep sea hubs such as Liverpool.”
Vessels on the route, with a capacity of 1000 TEU, will sail in a ‘butterfly’ schedule.