Daily maritime link between Calais and Tilbury

New maritime freight service from Calais-Tilbury

In September 2019, P&O Ferries launched a new sea link between France and the United Kingdom, adding to an already busy freight route. This service, intended for the import and export of goods in unaccompanied trailers, runs between Calais in Hauts-de-France and the British port of Tilbury. A ship with a capacity of 100 freight units will make two crossings a day on weekdays and one a day on weekends. This allows goods to be transported to London and South East England from Tilbury, located at the mouth of the Thames about 40 kilometres from the capital.

A service with many strengths

At a time of Brexit uncertainty, this new maritime service offers a host of advantages:

• It responds to a strong demand from the European market
• It reinforces the appeal of the French coast (and Hauts-de-France)
• It makes savings, according to P&O’s CEO Janette Belle, of “up to 120km per day compared to the traditional Calais-Dover crossing”
• It can deliver daily supplies to the English capital before rush hour
• According to Xavier Bertrand, President of the Hauts-de-France-Region, it will “Improve the flow of goods across the Channel, especially in the case of a No Deal Brexit”

Hauts-de-France is vital link in logistics flow between France and Great Britain

Situated at the heart of the London-Brussels-Paris golden triangle, the Hauts-de-France Region enjoys an unparalleled strategic location, occupying a vital position for the transit of goods to northern Europe. The region offers import-export professionals a highly developed logistics network (road, sea, river, rail and air) and plentiful infrastructure: multimodal platforms, international airports and motorways connected to Europe etc. Find out more about the Hauts-de-France logistics sector. Find out more about the accessibility of the region.