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Tilbury wins Iberian business

[ November 21, 2013   //   ]

Tilbury’s London Container Terminal has signed a deal to handle OPDR (Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei) services between the Iberian Peninsula, Canary Islands, North Africa and the UK.

OPDR will switch from Felixtowe to LCT from December starting with two calls on services to and from the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Portugal and Bilbao, followed closely by a second service for the Canaries, Morocco, South of Spain and Portugal and vice versa, resulting in four calls per week to the London port.

OPDR’s recently launched Bilbao service operates four 700teu vessels on a weekly schedule connecting Bilbao with Tilbury in about two days.

OPDR’s CEO, Till Ole Barrelet, described LCT as “a dedicated short sea terminal that understands our business concept. It is essential for OPDR to be close to the clients and have a reliable terminal with an excellent hinterland infrastructure with fast and reliable road and train connections into the main catchment areas.”

And at LCT owners, Forth Ports, chief operating officer Perry Glading, added: “This is a real success for us, not only does LCT have the perfect shipping location for OPDR’s short-sea services, we have the experience, expertise and equipment to deliver an excellent service. We have invested significantly in LCT, and we will continue to upgrade the site and equipment as we work to integrate container handling across both the deep sea and short sea operations. This will further secure Tilbury as a key shipping and distribution location with unrivalled access to London and the South East of England.”

LCT handles over half a million containers per year, and says it is the only UK port truly servicing both deep sea and short sea customers.

OPDR’s move to Tilbury comes at a time of change in the UK container market, with CGM CMA shortsea arm MacAndrew’s decision to switch from Tilbury to Thamesport and the SAECS Europe/South Africa consortium’s move from Tilbury to the new London Gateway port.

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