OPDR extends service at Tilbury’s London Container Terminal
London Container Terminal in Tilbury announces today (20th October) an extension to their agreement with short-sea shipping and logistics specialists Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei (OPDR), which sees OPDR’s new liner service from Agadir, Morocco calling at the Port of Tilbury for five transit days, the company said in its press release.
London Container Terminal (LCT) currently handles over 200 calls per annum for OPDR services on their routes between the Iberian Peninsula including the Canary Islands, North Africa and the UK, as announced in November 2013. OPDR’s newly established subsidiary, ‘OPDR Maroc’, headquartered in Casablanca, has opened an office in Agadir to support the newly launched service connection by OPDR from Agadir to the North Continent.
OPDR’s ‘Argan Express’ service offers short transit times to South and Northern Europe. OPDR will employ three 700 TEU vessels which provide space for up to 120 reefer containers on this weekly service.
Commenting on the announcement, Perry Glading, Chief Operating Officer of Forth Ports (owners of London Container Terminal) said: “We are thrilled to be growing our relationship with OPDR, whom we have worked with over the past year, with this additional call from Agadir, Morocco. LCT has the perfect shipping location for OPDR’s services, with a sophisticated supply chain infrastructure and fast and reliable connections. We have the experience, expertise and equipment to deliver a first rate service and we continue to invest significantly in LCT, as we work to integrate container handling across both the deep sea and short sea operations, further securing Tilbury as a key shipping and distribution location with unrivalled access to London and the South East of England.”
“The new express service is especially designed for perishable cargo – such as tomatoes and citrus fruits – from Agadir to the UK market”, says Till Ole Barrelet, Chief Executive Officer of the OPDR Group. “We are happy to have LCT as a partner with fast connections to the metropolitan area of London and beyond.”
LCT handles in excess of half a million containers per year, and is the only UK port truly servicing both deep sea and short sea customers.
