Short sea freight volumes dropped noticeably during the Covid-19 peak, so shipping lines were forced to remove freight ships from some services. During the summer months, shipping lines have seen an increase in freight demand and one company is chartering a RoRo vessel to help boost freight capacity on its Belfast to Liverpool and Belfast to Heysham routes.
An increase in trade, and therefore freight, is expected pre-Brexit.
The freight-only chartered ship is expected to start service on 2nd September and will make 10 sailings weekly between Belfast and Liverpool/Heysham. The addition of a second ship on the Northern Ireland to England corridor will increase freight capacity by 28% and frequency will rise from 46 to 56 crossings weekly compared to the present.
