Shipping giant MSC has launched a new route from China to Liverpool and this is good news for local book import specialist Publiship. Tony McDonough reports

August saw shipping giant MSC launched a new sea container route between Liverpool and China and this has provided a boost for one local logistics services provider.

In an interview with this month’s Baltic Triangle Podcast, Publiship’s James Doyle and Gerard Lyons talk about how their business, which imports 60% of the books coming into the UK, is one of Liverpool’s best kept secrets.

Also featured in this month’s podcast is an interview with one of the people behind My Licensed Breeder, a Baltic Triangle-based company which is changing the behaviour of both dog breeders and puppy buyers via its new dog breeding app.

It was in August that container vessel MSC Tokyo docked at Liverpool2 on the Mersey after making its journey from China via Vietnam. It will sail on to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, London Gateway, Singapore and Shanghai.

This new route is good news for Publiship as it imports a significant number of books printed in southern China. Talking to the Baltic Triangle Podcast, Publiship explained how they have grown into the world’s leading logistics provider for UK book publishers.

Based at the Royal Liver Building on Liverpool waterfront it also has 13 offices worldwide.

This business started trading in 1983 and James and Gerard explained they have been using the ports of Felixstowe and Southampton to import the books into the country from China. But the MSC route has offered a new opportunity.

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Gerard explained: “MSC’s direct call from China is a massive deal for Liverpool and is a massive deal for us. We deliver a lot of stuff up to Scotland so it is the perfect hub to deliver to there. It brings the carbon emissions down.”

James added: “We deal with all the major publishers in the UK. People listening will no doubt be holding books that we have directly imported. So we are a business in the grand old Liver Building doing big things on a global scale and we will continue to do that.”

Click here to hear the full interview on the Baltic Triangle Podcast