The number of services connecting Port of Felixstowe with the all-important Asian market has been increased with MSC’s Lion Service starting calls at the Suffolk port, providing one of the fastest available eastbound connections for UK exporters.

The service started with a call from the MSC Bruxelles, but from July the 9,200 TEU class vessels will be replaced with MSC’s largest container vessels, starting with the 14,000 TEU MSC Livorno.

David Gledhill, CEO of Hutchison Ports UK Ltd, which owns the Port of Felixstowe said: “The inclusion of the Port of Felixstowe on the Lion Service schedule is a great vote of confidence for the port and Felixstowe has a unique capability as the only UK port which can accommodate the next generation of container ships.

“With our new berths in their final phases of testing, and due to come online later this year, we will have additional capacity for these ultra-large ships.

“Combined with the port’s additional advantages including the UK’s busiest intermodal rail terminal, a range of coastal feeder services, a flexible workforce and a commitment to service delivery, Felixstowe can offer importers and exporters a choice of transport solutions that are unparalleled and will remain so in the future.”

The port rotation for the Lion Service will be: Qingdao, Pusan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Nansha, Hong Kong, Yantian, Chiwan, Sines, Le Havre, Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Antwerp, Felixstowe, GioiaTauro, Singapore, Chiwan, and Hong Kong.