P&O Ferries, Finnlines to Link Britain and Spain

Pan-European ferry operator P&O Ferries and Finnish ro-ro and passenger services provider Finnlines have decided to cooperate on providing a sea bridge between Britain’s east coast and northern Spain.

Namely, the parties plan to connect Spain and the Iberian Peninsula to markets in mainland Britain.

P&O Ferries runs 98 sailings a week from the British east coast ports of Tilbury, Hull and Teesport to its main continental hub at Zeebrugge. By connecting with these routes, Finnlines’ ferries from Zeebrugge to the Spanish ports of Bilbao and Santander would provide a service spanning the 1,100 miles between northern Spain and north-eastern England and Scotland.

“Anyone who needs to transport freight between Spain and Britain will now be able to make a single booking and take advantage of a maximum transit time of five days between the Spanish port from which goods depart and the British port at which they arrive, or vice versa,” Nick Pank, P&O Ferries’ Head of Sales Development for the North Sea, said.

The ferry and logistics company said it expects to see strong volumes of project cargo, machinery and machine parts, packaging, aluminium, car parts, fruit and vegetables, batteries and paper being transported between Spain and Britain.