Operator P&O Ferries has confirmed its long term commitment to its North Sea routes by extending the charter agreement with Bore Ltd of two ro-ro freight vessels, boosting the flow of trade between Belgium and the UK.
According to MultiModal, the extended charters of MS Norsky and MS Norstream, twins each with a 125 trailer unit capacity, will maintain the operators presence on the Zeebrugge-Teesport and Zeebrugge-Tilbury routes for the long term.
The three-year extension to the charter agreement ensures that freight customers will be able to rely on regular P&O Ferries’ services to key routes across the North Sea. The MS Norsky and MS Norstream both built in 1999, will play a vital role in linking customers to P&O Ferries’ Zeebrugge hub, unlocking access to freight destinations across Europe.
As well as extending charter agreements on the MS Norsky and MS Norstream, P&O Ferries has reinforced its commitment to the Zeebrugge-Teesport route through a separate extension of the MS Finnpulp charter agreement with the Grimaldi-owned Finnlines.
The MS Finnpulp (190 trailers) will continue serving the route on two midweek sailings a week, giving customers more options on the key trading routes between the UK and Belgium. (Afloat adds, the same freight vessel also operates a Belgium-Ireland service of a single weekly return on Finnlines’ Zeebrugge-Rosslare Europort route, see related joint partnership story).
The extension of these key charter agreements ensures the continuation of P&O Ferries’ 30-year presence at Teesport where the company manages a specialised terminal and berth, providing an exceptional service to our customers at the port.
Peter Hebblethwaite, Chief Executive of P&O Ferries, said:“Our continued cooperation with Bore Ltd and Finnlines is in response to the importance of our North Sea routes to our customers, who are playing a key role in ensuring smooth trade between Europe and the UK.
“We’re delighted to be reinforcing our presence on our North Sea routes and ensuring our customers continue to receive great service and consistent sailings between Zeebrugge and our UK ports in the years ahead.”