The company will further upgrade the weekly container service by deploying a larger vessel, the 750 TEUs of capacity Edith.

"We have experienced strong uptake for the direct route into Amsterdam's network of rail, road and barge connections to major EU markets. As anticipated, customers linking to Ireland have been eager to avoid the post-Brexit hassles of UK distribution. Waterford can expect the same seamless connections," Thijs Goumans, Samskip's Head of Ireland Trade, commented.

Alma Prins-Droog, the Port of Amsterdam's Head of Cargo & Offshore, underlined, "The Irish container market shows strong growth, and the addition of the Port of Waterford offers many new opportunities."

Michael van Toledo, TMA Logistics' General Manager, also spotlighted, "TMA's congestion-free road access provides a platform for growth in FMCG volumes into Ireland and for Irish pharma and dairy exports via Amsterdam, with Samskip rail services offering connections to the east and cross-docking at TMA is winning over trailer operators to and from markets further south of Amsterdam. over the past three years."

Photo: Port of Waterford