The driving force for top 20 shipping lines’ profitability and losses over the last 20 years. This trade lane has made and unmade many shipping magnates, vessel owners and 3PLs for a very long time. It is the main initial deployment route for all of the 13,000TEU+ vessels in service today and has been the proving ground for new equipment and work practices both on the water and at the land interface for at least the last 20 years.
Europe is well provided with ports in this range from the Western Approaches all the way to Scandinavia and, for some operators, even now direct into the Baltic for T/shipment over Poland. Virtually all the North West European mainland ports could reasonably claim to have efficient intermodal connections which allow them to map hinterlands reaching from the North Sea and Atlantic shorelines all the way into Eastern and Southern Europe as far as the Urals in the East and Milan in the South. The main UK ports serving this trade lane are located along the South and East coasts of England. Ireland is largely served off this trade lane by T/shipment over mainland Europe ports or the UK ports depending on service loop rotation.
North European Main-Ports (traditional calls or regional liner hubs) – These are chosen by individual lines and consortia for a variety of reasons. Main drivers towards a given port/terminal choice are currently, price, liner or partner line shareholding in terminals at port, ability to handle vessels deployed (equipment and handling efficiency) with minimal tidal restrictions on arrival and departure, presence of local cargo/manufacturing/processing, hinterland connectivity, regional feeder line network connectivity and inter-liner/consortia politics.
North European port call order is largely determined by distance steamed, but also affected by vessel draft at various points, priority transit times for high value cargoes, but very little else – I still hear liner commercial managers discussing new schedule port calls and ad hoc additional calls in terms of ‘we’re going past there anyway, why don’t we just pop in on the way past’, always raises a smile.
For ease of reference I will list the current main port calls serving this trade route in NW Europe anti-clockwise beginning on the continental side of the Western Approaches to the channel:
London Gateway is anticipated to become a major port of call serving this trade lane, but has not long been established and is yet to make a significant impact on this trade lane.
Those ports in bold above are the gateways for the lion’s share of containerised goods on this trade lane in North Europe. The ones not bolded are either up and coming (disrupter) ports or ports which were leaders more than 15 years ago, but which have lost out for various reasons.
Scandinavia and the Baltics are served off this trade lane largely by feedering.
Russia, the new Eastern European States and the land locked Near East are served off this trade lane either by feedering from NW Europe, intermodal links, connections over a transhipment node with another trade lane or a combination of intermodal and connection via other trade lanes. The Main vessel size Deployed on this trade lane is 8,500TEU – 18,000TEU.
LE HAVRE
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DUNKIRK
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ZEEBRUGGE
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ANTWERP
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ROTTERDAM
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BREMERHAVEN
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HAMBURG
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WILHELMSHAVEN
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GDYNIA
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FELIXSTOWE
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SOUTHAMPTON
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