Port of Greenock Restores Weekly Cargo Service to Rotterdam

The Port of Greenock, in Scotland, welcomed the vessel BG Emerald, the first to operate on a new weekly shipping service to Rotterdam run by the carrier BG Freight Line. This call restores a direct connection between the Scottish port and Rotterdam's extensive route network, giving the country's exporters a regular pathway to reach international markets.

The weekly service will be operated on an alternating basis by the vessels MV BG Emerald and MV BG Jade, each with a capacity of 1,002 TEU according to Port Technology, although Portal Portuario put the capacity of the BG Jade at 1,000 TEU. Jamie Strain, Director of Clydeport at Peel Ports Group, highlighted that Scottish exporters can now be certain that a vessel will depart each week bound for Rotterdam and, from there, to other markets around the world.

According to Strain, the service will be particularly beneficial for independent whisky producers, who are facing challenging market conditions, as well as for their supply chains under financial and commercial pressure. The executive also noted that there had been a satisfactory level of initial interest from exporters.

The announcement comes after an export roundtable organized by Peel Ports Group earlier this year, which brought together Scottish food and beverage companies to discuss barriers to international trade. Participants identified transport costs, service reliability, available capacity and market access as their main concerns, along with the impact of freight costs and transit times on exporters' cash flow.

The Port of Greenock handles around 100,000 TEU per year. Peel Ports Group invested £25 million in two new 72-meter gantry cranes at the terminal, a figure estimated by Port Technology at USD 33 million and by Portal Portuario at USD 33.5 million, as part of a program to increase capacity and support Scottish international trade.