New container service boosts Scottish trade

The new call is an extension to the Mediterranean Shipping Company service which already calls at the Port of Liverpool.

The new service will provide a boost for Scottish exports, including commodities such as whisky and other alcohol types and plastics, as well as significant imports of food, packaging materials and manufactured products.

“This direct call will increase trade between Scotland and Turkey, while also providing enhanced UK west coast connectivity, as well as connectivity to the more distant markets in the US and Asia,” said Jim McSporran, port director at Peel Ports Clydeport.

“It will also serve to reduce both transit times and carbon emissions in the supply chain, to and from Scotland.”

The addition of the port is a seal of approval, says Peel Ports, having recently invested £25 million in two new ship-to-shore cranes to service larger post-Panamax container ships.

“Our £25m investment in two new cranes, which will be fully operational later this year, is the largest single investment in the terminal since it opened in 1969,” continued McSporran.

“These modern and technologically advanced cranes will not only significantly increase operational efficiency and productivity in the port, but will also increase our capability to service bigger post-Panamax vessels.”

The new service rotation, which also includes Spain, Portugal and France, will enhance sea-borne connectivity from Scotland to the Far East, India and Pakistan, with reliable direct mother vessel to mother vessel transshipment connection in Sines, Portugal.