Ireland is about to have its first direct container shipping service to the United States. The new routing, which will be the first direct link in years between the two countries, will provide Irish exporters a reliable and fast route for their supply chain.

Independent Container Line (ICL) announced the start of a new weekly, direct service from the Port of Cork that will launch in June 2020. ICL will begin sailing from Ireland every Saturday.

“Ireland is a market we have been keen to develop for a while and we sincerely hope the Irish trade support this commitment by ICL, to bring Ireland its first direct weekly service to the USA East Coast,” said John Kirkland, CEO of ICL. “We look forward to working with the Port of Cork with their exciting expansion plans.”

The new service is set to commence with the sailing of the Independent Vision, a 3000 TEU vessel which is sailing on the ICI route between Wilmington, North Carolina, and Chester in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area and Antwerp and Southampton. Cork will be added to the route beginning on June 6 with the ship arriving 10 days later in Chester, and three days after that in Wilmington.

“The Port of Cork is delighted with this opportunity to work with ICL and support this new direct route to the US,” said Brendan Keating, CEO of the Port of Cork. “The timing is perfect with the opening of our new €80 million Cork Container Terminal in Ringaskiddy on the horizon, and has the potential to grow cargo volumes from and to Ireland.”

ICL has been serving the North Atlantic trade for 35 years focused on niche routes.