Forth Ports-owned London Container Terminal (LCT) said it had reached agreement with shipping line MSC Geneva and container provider Zeta System to establish the new UK East Coast feeder service.
The new service will see MSC work with coastal feeder ship company BG Freight to deliver a new weekly shipping link which will call at the major sea port at Rotterdam in the Netherlands as well as Grangemouth on the Forth, Immingham on the River Humber, the port of Felixstowe and at LCT’s base at Tilbury on the Thames.
The new service is the first time a regular sea link has been established between LCT and Grangemouth since Forth Ports acquired the English facility in early 2012.
“We have a strong relationship with MSC, Zeta and BG Freight and it’s great to be working on this collaboration service,” said Perry Glading, chief operating officer of Forth Ports.
“This is good news for the port of Tilbury and for our sister port in Grangemouth, Scotland’s largest container terminal.
“By using our strategically placed ports, our warehousing facilities and our coastal shipping experience we are able to bring many benefits including delivering an environmental benefit by using shipping rather than road miles.”
Grangemouth currently handles around 150,000 containers per year, representing approximately nine million tonnes of cargo.
Around 2.5m tonnes of that figure is made up of ‘dry’ goods, a term used to describe raw materials imported for use in Scottish industry and outgoing finished product.
Consumer products from Italy — including domestic cooking oils and lager — will be among the goods transported in the early days of the new service, but it is hoped the facility will attract new customers once it is fully established.
Antonio Zaccagnino, sole director of Zeta System, said: “This is an important new service for us, and our customers including Miller Brands Ltd need a reliable service to the UK market.
“We have recently invested in our own fleet of 45ft containers for this service and we look forward to working with Tilbury more in the future.”
MSC Geneva trade manager Massimiliano Venezian said: “We work well with the team at Tilbury and we are delighted to be launching this service in collaboration with Zeta System srl and BG Freight. We hope to build upon this opportunity in the UK.”