Merseyside freight forwarder Trinity Logistics says new maritime container routes into London Gateway open up opportunities for Liverpool city region importers and exporters. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool city region freight forwarding boss Amanda Unsworth says new maritime container routes into London Gateway are good news for local importers and exporters.
In March the first vessel docked at London Gateway as part of the Gemini venture, a partnership between shipping giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd. When fully operational, Gemini will run 57 services across the world with a TEU capacity of up to 3.7m.
Maersk Stadelhorn was the first ship to call at London Gateway in March. It left the UK and was set to call at the ports of Hamburg, Tanger Med, Colombo, Kamarajar, Algeciras, and Rotterdam.
Amanda, who is the founder and managing director of Trinity Logistics, a freight forwarder based close to the Port of Liverpool, said she is excited by the prospect of the Gemini service.
Although a big supporter of the Port of Liverpool she says the potential speed and reliability will offer much-needed capacity that will help ease the overall pressure on UK port infrastructure.
“Liverpool is a world class port and at Trinity we are committed to helping it to grow,” said Amanda. “But the needs of our customers are critical to our business. This Gemini service provides direct links to new global ports.
“This will expand London Gateway’s international reach and make it a more competitive logistics hub. Our clients need to move goods around as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“Regular, reliable sailings help businesses plan better and reduce inventory costs, boosting supply chain efficiency. We are always speaking to customers and, at the moment, we are noting that more are choosing transit times over rates.”
Despite fierce global headwinds Trinity, which was founded by Amanda in 2017, secured 20 new clients in 2024 and gained market share. It is also set to reveal new investment in its systems and processes to give its customers an improved service.
“If we are to maximise the benefits of the investment into our business then we need to make sure we are choosing the best options. Gemini aims for optimised routing, which can reduce overall transit time for goods coming into the UK.
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“Its modern vessels also offer greener technology, helping reduce emissions and supporting environmental targets. That is becoming an increasing focus for our customers.
“More frequent calls and larger vessels means greater cargo capacity, reducing pressure during peak periods. This service is a boost to the entire UK logistics and freight forwarding sector, and we welcome it.
“I also think this will relieve the pressure on other UK ports. We need a balanced ports sector where freight is coming into locations where it is most appropriate. So much that currently comes in via southern ports comes up north by road. So we also want to see Liverpool utilised much more to address that.”