Announcement from MSC is the latest piece of good news for the container terminal on the Mersey which has seen a significant upturn in new activity since the beginning of 2019. Tony McDonough reports

Shipping giant MSC is to add an extra cargo route to its Port of Liverpool operations with a new twice-weekly route that takes in North America and Southern Europe.

The announcement is the latest piece of good news for the container terminal on the Mersey which has seen a significant upturn in new activity since the beginning of 2019.

Eight MSC 5500 TEU vessels will be used on the route that will call twice a week at Seaforth as well as Turkey, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Canada.

In January the 2M Alliance, which comprises MSC and Maersk, made the temporary switch of its Transatlantic route from Felixstowe to Liverpool permanent and Liverpool-based national retail B&M also said it was growing its exports through Liverpool.

And, in late February, Port of Liverpool owner Peel Ports said it planned to take on up to 250 new staff during 2019 with vacancies ranging from port operatives and straddle carrier drivers to engineers and from data analysts to managerial roles.

Mark Whitworth, chief executive of Peel Ports, said: “The tide continues to turn in Liverpool’s favour as shipping lines and their customers see the evidence for how our location can benefit the whole supply chain.

“This is another vote of confidence in the North West and our location for bringing the heart of the UK economy closer to their international markets.”

In 2018 Peel Ports introduced a rail freight service directly from the Port of Liverpool in partnership with DB Cargo. It is now the only major UK container terminal to offer tri-modal connectivity, with road, rail and water, the Manchester Ship Canal, plus short-sea shipping.

Michael Collins, commercial director of MSC UK, added: “We’ve been offering our customers leading connections between Liverpool and our global routes for more than 18 years so inevitably the Port of Liverpool has become an integral part of our UK ocean and landside operations.

“As we continue to grow our presence in the North West of the UK, we’re seeing greater customer interest in our services to/from Liverpool and we’re very much looking forward to continuing that trend, and our relationship with Peel Ports.”