Another Anglo-French sea service launched
A new daily ferry service linking Calais with the port of Tilbury is operational. P&O Ferries launched the service in the first half of September. It is designed to give freight that is not accompanied by a driver a direct route to a port located just 25 miles from Central London, further broadening the company's service for importers to and exporters from the south east of England.
Xavier Bertrand, president of the regional council of the department of Hauts-de-France, said: "The opening of a regular shipping line between Tilbury and Calais will improve the fluidity on the Channel, especially in the event of a No Deal Brexit." P&O Ferries has chartered the “Caroline Russ” to service the new route, with two sailings every weekday and one each on Saturday and Sunday.
The eight-hour sailing will have capacity for 100 units of freight, with a total of 50,000 expected to be carried in the first 12 months. The new river berth at the port of Tilbury is scheduled to open in April next year, enabling P&O Ferries to treble volumes on its existing Zeebrugge-Tilbury services to 600,000 loads of freight a year. (fd)