Shipping company WEC Lines has expanded its existing service into the Port of Liverpool with a new series of weekly calls to the UK port from northern Spain, Portugal, north Africa and the Canary Islands.

The Dutch (Rotterdam based) company is operating weekly services in addition to existing Spanish and Portuguese routes since 2019 to the Merseyside port that is part of the Peel Ports Group.

The new direct weekly services from Bilbao, Vigo and Gijon in Spain, Casablanca in Morocco, Setubal and Leixoes in Portugal and Santa Cruz and Las Palmas in the Canaries commenced this month.

The services will import a range of southern European and north African products.

Roger Megann, Managing Director from WEC Lines said: “This is a significant upgrade and expansion of our service, offering our customers weekly reliability and new direct connections to and from Portugal, Spain, Canaries and north Africa to Liverpool.

“WEC Lines is committed to providing excellence in its products and customer service. Our partnership with Port of Liverpool is a key element of this development.”

David Huck, Chief Operating Officer at Peel Ports said: “We are delighted to welcome WEC Lines’ significant expansion of services into the Port of Liverpool.

“This multi-continental weekly service is a further vote of confidence in the port and the trans-shipment opportunities of these routes further expand Liverpool’s global network and reach.

“The Port of Liverpool’s unrivalled location provides significant advantages as a more efficient and closer-to-end destination option, which reduces the road miles and congestion seen at other UK ports.”