Peel Ports Group subsidiary BG Freight Line will introduce a new weekly freight container ship service between Cork and Liverpool on March 27.

It is hoped the new route will offer opportunities for freight customers in Ireland to make connections with the deep-sea services now calling at the Port of Liverpool, particularly from Canada, the east coast of the US and the Mediterranean.

Koert Luitwieler, shipping director at Rotterdam-based BG Freight Line, said: “This new service will create even more momentum in Liverpool and was the last missing link in the connectivity between Ireland and Liverpool.

“Not only have a large number of cargo owners shown their interest in this route but also a number of deep-sea lines who see this as an opportunity to reposition empties to Cork.”

Peel said the new service will also provide a quay-to-quay route for tank operators, and door-to-door opportunities into the North of England, Midlands and Scotland — regions previously only accessible via Dublin.

Andrew Allen, UK Operations Director of Hapag Lloyd said: “This new service provides our Cork-located clients with a viable and timely connection alternative for two of our Atlantic slings.

“It also provides us with an additional attractive option for the positioning and evacuation of equipment to and from Cork and surrounding counties.”

Peel Ports’ Roger Megann, business development manager – containers, added: “This is the final piece in the jigsaw of a complete Liverpool hub serving key locations in Ireland, with BG Freight now offering four sailings per week.

“Liverpool is the closest deep-water container terminal and I’m confident that Irish cargo owners realise the potential benefits of the significant investment we’ve made at Liverpool2.

“In fact, there’s already been interest in our highly successful Cargo200 campaign, which underlines the benefits of shipping closer to and from market, and we’ll be officially launching it there soon.”

The weekly schedule of the new service will be:

• Saturday: Liverpool
• Monday: Cork
• Wednesday: Liverpool

At the end of the each week, the vessel will continue to offer services between Belfast, Greenock and Liverpool.

The route will initially be served by MV Thea II MV RMS Veritas.

However, from 2018, BG Freight will take delivery of four tailor-made short-sea feeder vessels optimised for the company’s Irish Sea Hub services.