Samskip and Boluda Lines have come together to launch shortsea container services connecting Santander, Dublin and Liverpool.
The new weekly shortsea option for unitised cargoes will, the companies said, be cost competitive against road-ferry alternatives while, at the same time, offering greater reliability and substantially reducing CO2 emissions per tonne mile.
Based on Saturday departures from Santander by the 803 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit, the standard container size) nominal capacity vessel LUCIA B, the service offers a three-day transit time to Dublin port, with calls at Liverpool’s Royal Seaforth Container Terminal, due two days after, before the ship’s return to Spain.
With door-to-door and quay-to-quay services available, cargoes can move in owners’ extensive range of containers — including 45ft high cubes, reefers and flatracks — or in shippers’ own equipment.
Ólafur Orri Ólafsson, Head of Network Optimisation & Iberia Trade, said: “With our long-lasting experience and local knowledge in the Irish, UK and Spanish markets, particularly in clearance knowledge and inland distribution expertise, we will be able to add significant value to our customers, to whom we remain dedicated to in our mission to provide the most reliable service.”
The addition of Liverpool to north–south services represents a major new strategic commitment in the UK, he went on.
The Port of Liverpool gives access to the M62 to reach key UK importers and exporters, Mr Ólafsson pointed out, with Samskip’s combination of in-house customs clearance expertise and UK-based truck capacity promising to deliver seamless logistics across the north-west and beyond.
