New services between Great Britain and Portugal
The Netherlands-based shipping group with roots in Iceland, Samskip, is launching a new direct weekly service connecting Portugal and the UK. The company intends to sustain its links between Tilbury (UK), Lisbon and Leixões in Portugal and its hub port Rotterdam, using its own vessels. The new service will be run by a 1,000 teu container ship on charter from 1 November 2019.
It will maintain UK-Portugal transit times of five days, while continuing to offer four-times weekly services from Rotterdam to Leixões and weekly to Lisbon via space booked with other carriers. The upgrade will allow Samskip to grow its Portugal-UK volumes by 30-40%, according to Lisa Westerhuis, Samskip trade manager Iberia.
Luis Paz da Silva, international commercial managing director of Noatum Maritime Services, Samskip’s agency in Portugal, said that 45ft length containers were proving to be a key element in persuading Portuguese importers and exporters to switch away from road haulage. (fd)