Dutch container shipping operator WEC Lines recently revamped an existing UK-Ireland-Spain service, which started late last month.
The load-on/load-off (lo-lo) service has been renamed NWC Spain, running from Le Havre, France, and Bilbao to the UK and Ireland into a weekly service while adding Antwerp, Belgium, Montoir-de-Bretagne, France; and Gijón in northern Spain to the rotation.
The NWC service started on 27 September, when WEC Lines began running Spain.
By adding a second vessel to its service, the operator establishes a fast weekly sailing route from Bilbao & Gijón to the Irish Sea ports of Dublin and Liverpool. This service sees departures from Bilbao on Fridays and arrivals in Liverpool on Mondays and in Dublin on Wednesdays and offers, an alternative to truck transport from Spain into the UK and Ireland.
In addition, short transit times from Antwerp and Montoir-de-Bretagne to Bilbao are offered—7days and 2 days, respectively—facilitating onward rail connections to Spanish ports along the Mediterranean: Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid, Zaragoza, and Agoncillo (La Rioja). From the Merseyside port of Liverpool, rail connections are offered into Belfast, Mossend in Scotland, and Greenock on the Clyde.
