The Port of Felixstowe has welcomed the first call of a new service connecting North Europe and Turkey. Known as the 'North Europe Turkey Express' (NET), the new weekly service is jointly operated by Cosco Shipping and OOCL.

The first call for the new service was made at the UK’s largest container port on Saturday 8 April by the 1,924 TEU Delphis Finland.

Commenting on the inaugural call, Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Felixstowe and Managing Director of Hutchison Ports Europe, said: “This brand new service will further strengthen the comprehensive network of sailings available to shippers through the Port of Felixstowe. The port has provided important connections for trade with the Eastern Mediterranean region for many years and we are delighted to welcome the NET service as the newest addition to the route. The new NET container service provides UK importers and exporters with greater choice and frequency to an important and growing market.”

As well as calls at Felixstowe, the new service also calls at Hamburg, Antwerp, Piraeus, Istanbul-Ambarli (Kumport), Gebze (Yilport), Izmir and Salerno.

Cosco Shipping and OOCL are both members of the new Ocean Alliance which has chosen the Port of Felixstowe as the main UK hub for its main Europe to Asia services. The other members of the Ocean Alliance are Evergreen and CMA-CGM.