Just months after starting a new freight route between Morocco and the Port of Liverpool, WEC Lines is to launch a further service linking Liverpool with Spain, Portugal and Ireland. Tony McDonough reports

Dutch maritime freight specialist WEC Lines is to start a new cargo route linking the Port of Liverpool with the Iberian Peninsula and Ireland.

In January WEC launched a new freight service linking Agadir in Morocco with Liverpool for the first time. It is aimed at importers of fresh produce from North Africa, in particular tomatoes

WEC Lines has been running ships between Liverpool and Portugal and Spain since 2019. In February 2023 it added a new series of weekly calls from Northern Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Canary Islands.

This new weekly service will be delivered by an 812-TEU owned vessel in a fixed-day rotation, departing Bilbao on Saturdays, arriving in Dublin on Mondays, and Liverpool on Tuesdays.

Roger Megann, managing director WEC Lines UK, said: “WEC Lines has been active in the Irish market for more than 30 years from Portugal.

“Following our successful entry into the Spanish market in 2021 by connecting Bilbao to Liverpool our clients in both trades have been requesting WEC Lines to add Dublin and offer a wider product scope.

“This was further encouraged when WEC Lines entered the reefer market at the beginning of 2024 as there is a strong reefer trade between Ireland, Spain and Portugal.”

This expansion of WEC Lines’ services also allows the carrier to continue growing its trade between Spain and Portugal to Liverpool as demanded by its clients in both the dry and reefer market.

Liverpool will now be called twice a week, as it is also a port of call in the existing NSC UK/PT service.

Patrick Ram, managing director of WEC Lines España, added: “We are delighted with this new upgrade and expansion of our current services, adding a weekly direct service to Dublin from Bilbao.

“This also creates new opportunities from Canary Islands, Gijón and Vigo in line with our goals of continuously adding value to our products and our commitment to providing the best customer service to our clients.”