#ports&shipping - On the Irish Sea the Port of Liverpool now has the world’s top five shipping lines all now calling on Merseyside following confirmation that Chinese giant COSCO Shipping is to ship via the port.

COSCO (Chinese Ocean Shipping Company) according to Peel Ports Group which includes Liverpool, will take slots on an existing Canadian service via Montreal with Orient Overseas Container Lines (OOCL). COSCO joins MSC, Maersk, CMA and Hapag in starting or growing a presence in Liverpool.

The decision follows a successful trial by COSCO Shipping in October, since when MSC has also introduced a new call to Liverpool, as part of a rotation including Canada, Turkey and various southern European ports.

This is the third major line announcement for Liverpool in the last few months, as the 2M shipping alliance confirmed at the end of 2018 that the English north-west port will be a permanent call on its TA4 transatlantic service.

Peel Ports also announced in February that it was aiming to create 250 jobs, mostly in Liverpool, to deal with continued business growth.

#ChinaCoastalTrade -  Three foreign-flag boxships owned by Cosco Container Lines according to LloydsLoadingList.com, have recently won government approval to carry containers between Shanghai and other Chinese ports.

The move signals an official launch of Beijing's pilot project to liberalise the country's cabotage restrictions.

The vessels, 49,961 dwt Cosco Surabaya, 49,973 dwt Cosco Venice and 49,959 dwt Cosco Wellington — all Hong Kong-flagged — are the first batch of players granted such privilege, while ships owned by China Shipping Container Lines are also applying for the designation, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua.

Beijing announced in 2013 that it would permit Chinese carriers to ship international cargoes between Shanghai and other Chinese ports with their own vessels flagged abroad after registering them in the transport ministry, under a pilot programme to boost transhipment in Shanghai free trade zone. The aim was to promote Shanghai, already the world's busiest port, as an international shipping centre.

For more on this trade development, click HERE.