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Strong showing from P&0 Irish Sea
P&O Irish Sea is currently enjoying another very successful year with strong growth on all three of their Irish Sea routes. This follows a record year in 2006 when the award winning company had its best ever performance, with a 4% increase in shipments on both the Dublin to Liverpool and Larne to Cairnryan routes.
 The Troon service has also performed well and 2007 looks like being another good year for the Irish Sea service.
Scottish Services General Manager Graham McCullough said: “In 2006 we carried record shipments through our Scottish ports and were delighted to win Export and Freight ‘Irish Shipping Line of the Year’. Our aim for 2007 was to ensure that we maintained and improved the high levels of service achieved during 2006 and increase our utilisation of off peak sailings. Both these targets have been met and our business in 2007 has again surpassed expectations with over 4% growth in the first half year of trading and we expect to move in excess of 285000 units in the full year.
Southern Route General Manager, Charlie Greene, added: “We were aware that 2006 was an exceptional year and that 2007 was unlikely to provide the same high levels of growth that we enjoyed last year. We are therefore delighted to be proved wrong and are continuing to enjoy the high levels of growth we achieved last year. Our customers need and expect a quality service, coupled with good reliability, and our recent performance is indicative of our commitment to providing just such a service.”
Since 1998 the company has worked hard to improve the levels of quality, service and reliability it offers, it has introduced new vessels on most routes and upgraded and improved shore based facilities at the various ports. They enjoy a reputation which is now second to none, with regard to the quality of the service they offer, and have set new standards of reliability and performance with vessels like the European Causeway and European Highlander. Staff training has also been given a high priority with new departments created specifically to pro-actively contact and service freight customers.
On-line features have also been developed which allow customers to book via the web allowing them to amend existing bookings and track & trace their vehicles from the moment they arrive at one port until they are ‘out-gated’ following disembarkation at the port of arrival. On-line services also provide the latest route information and traffic and schedule news. This is all part of the continued development a new website launched last year, further enhancing the facilities and options available to on-line customers. It has been developed in conjunction with P&O Ferries and for the first time all P & O Ferries routes are now available on one inclusive website at www.poisfreight.com
Further support services allow customers to choose automatic shipping confirmation by email or fax, individual, daily or weekly invoicing, electronic invoicing and statements and EDI. It is a very flexible approach which allows customers to choose from normal, individual paper invoicing through the various options to a fully electronic system.
Focus on Freight
The ‘Focused on Freight’ theme demonstrates the main thrust of strategic development over the past few years and their commitment to the freight transport market. All vessels are specifically designed to accommodate freight traffic, with separate on board facilities for freight drivers. Similar dedicated facilities are available at all ports to ensure commercial drivers are fully catered for throughout their journey.
P&O Irish Sea pride themselves on the close working relationships established with all their customers and indeed partnerships with major customers have been developed to streamline and improve the logistics supply chain. Front line staff are on first name terms with their respective customer contacts and dedicated Customer Service teams pro-actively liaise with customers on a daily basis to ensure that all their shipping requirements are catered for.
P&O Irish Sea specifically cater for the wide-ranging demands of the haulage industry and in addition to general cargo specialise in the shipment of Hazardous loads, abnormal loads, Refrigerated trailers, Livestock vehicles and a wide selection of unaccompanied and trade equipment. Staff, both ashore and on board, are trained to handle these items and to provide customers with support and advice covering any issues relating to shipments in their particular field.
Ongoing Process
The business has grown and developed over many years and P&O Irish Sea recognise that this will be an on-going process. New and innovative ships have been introduced, quay and harbour facilities have been modernised and continued investment in staff training and development and Information Technology is ongoing. P&O recognise that in a competitive market they need to stay ahead of the game.
P & O’s current plans include the development of their port facility at Cairnryan with a new purpose built berth, new loading ramp, additional quay space and improvements to parking areas and traffic routes. They have also recently introduced a third vessel to the Dublin – Liverpool route and continue to evaluate requirements for ship deployment on all routes.
With continued growth on all their routes P&O Irish Sea continue to look for new opportunities to develop their business and currently have a number of projects under consideration. These developments will obviously depend on market growth and how customers choose to develop their businesses in future.
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