Global container shipping consortium ‘The Alliance’ has announced that all of its mainline UK calls will be handled by DP World, the Dubai-based global ports and logistics services company.

The consortium of container shipping lines – which comprises Hapag Lloyd, K-Line, MOL, NYK Line and Yang Ming – will bring vessels on its FE1, FE2 and FE4 services into DP World Southampton and those on FE3 and FE5 into DP World London Gateway, all of which link Asia and Europe.

Vessels deployed on the consortium’s transatlantic AL3, AL4 and AL5 services, will call at DP World Southampton while those on AL1 and AL2 will call into DP World London Gateway, a statement form DP World said.

The FE3 and FE5 will be the first regular Asia-Europe services to call at DP World London Gateway. This means the port now offers the widest choice to shippers on North-South and East-West trade lanes.

The port is also integrated with DP World London Gateway Logistics Park, which provides nearly one million sq m of supply chain and distribution space, such as Lidl and UPS, who are already on site, it said.

The multimodal port and logistics park combination offers customers a unique opportunity to optimise efficiency and flexibility within their global supply chains.

Confirmation from ‘The Alliance’ that new Asia-Europe and transatlantic services are to begin calling at DP World London Gateway has triggered a separate announcement by DP World that it will formally open its third berth for full operations at the end of March.

Berth 3 provides additional capacity for shipping lines and cargo owners, such as those in the retail, engineering and automotive sectors.

DP World Southampton container terminal will now be the only port to handle vessels operated by ‘The Alliance’, ‘Ocean Alliance’ and ‘2M’ alliance – the three major container shipping line consortia.

Both DP World Southampton and DP World London Gateway are linked to an unrivalled global shipping network, providing competitive shipping options to all corners of the globe.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, CEO and chairman, DP World, said: “This is a strong endorsement of UK industry. We are proud that ‘The Alliance’ has chosen to make all of its UK calls at DP World terminals from April and we strongly believe that DP World in the UK is best placed to offer the consortium and its customers the very best service.

“DP World is the only operator in the UK to provide two deep-water facilities. Both terminals can provide operational back up to each other and reduce the risk of delays to the supply chain – no other operator in the UK can do this.”