Samskip expands short sea network with liner service Grangemouth - Amsterdam

Over the past months, Samskip has significantly increased its services in Amsterdam, utilising the geographical location, hinterland connections and competitive advantages of the port to take advantage of recent and future market developments. This aligns with the strategic focus of Port of Amsterdam on the further development of its short sea and intermodal propositions.

This new service is an important step a few months before Brexit. There is increasing demand for reliable and efficient connections between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, that will perform their tasks even in new, complex situations.

Additionally, Samskip sees growing demand from the Scottish market for transport options to continental Europe, including for food & beverages, paper and steel products. The port of Amsterdam traditionally has a strong trade relationship with the United Kingdom and this connections offers additional options for exporters to and importers from the Scottish and the North of England markets.

The short sea and intermodal connections have continued to grow in the port of Amsterdam over the last couple of months. In August, a direct rail service was launched between Amsterdam – Duisburg and Amsterdam – Wuhan by Samskip and Nunner Logistics. The cargo that is transported from Asia to Amsterdam is mostly destined for the British market and therefore plugs right into the short sea connections to the United Kingdom.

In addition to Grangemouth, there are liner services to Hull and Tilbury. Moreover, TMA Logistics also welcomed a new liner service to Norway, connecting the ports of Stavanger, Haugesund and Bergen to Amsterdam. These developments underline the attractiveness of short sea in the port of Amsterdam.

Koen Overtoom, CEO Port of Amsterdam, ‘Europe’s largest multimodal logistics company Samskip is an important strategic partner for us with regards to the creation of new logistical connections. With this service to Grangemouth, we are putting Port of Amsterdam further on the map in Scotland and we provide our clients with additional possibilities. This new, weekly liner service fits perfectly with our shared ambition with TMA Logistics to continue to expand our short sea network. The international partnerships we set up with parties like Forth Ports play a facilitating role in realising this ambition.’

David Besseling, Head of UK Trade at Samskip said: “Apart from the geographical advantage for some shippers, with TMA in Amsterdam Samskip also provide efficient cross docking and intermodal hinterland connections alongside our Rotterdam based services. It is great to see our customers supporting us to extend these benefits to the Scottish market too. The second weekly Grangemouth call will further improve the reliability of our overall short sea services enabling clients to further reduce their carbon footprint and provides more trailer conversion opportunities.”

Commenting on the new service, Derek Knox, Senior Port Manager at The Port of Grangemouth said: "It’s great news for Grangemouth and for the Scottish market that Samskip have chosen the port for this additional call on their growing short-sea European service. The Port of Grangemouth plays a key role in Scotland’s logistics and freight sector and this additional call will increase the frequency of vessels connecting to mainland Europe and provide an enhancement to the current offering from the Port to the Scottish Market. Grangemouth is Scotland’s key strategic freight hub with the country’s largest container port. Samskip’s customers will benefit from our efficient and fast turnaround times in addition to the many advantages that can be obtained from our key strategic location within Scotland."