Orange juice will start flowing through Portland Port as a liquid shipping operation begins.

Portland Port is welcoming the MV Marilie, which will be bringing orange juice from Ghent in Belgium to the UK through Portland Port.

The 89-metre vessel MV Marilie will be making 32 shipments a year, with the product being taken onward by road to Refresco’s Bridgwater plant in Somerset.

Previously, the juice was brought over by a road tanker from Ghent. It is hoped that the switch to bulk delivery by ship through Portland will significantly reduce the number of road miles and the carbon footprint of the operation.

This new operation follows the completion of successful trials and uses 50 Tonne Crane Berth, a historic berth at the port that was sensitively refurbished to bring it back into working order.

The ship - which sails under the Finnish flag - will carry concentrates of orange juice and fresh orange juice. The shipping service itself will be run by JuiSea Shipping.

Ian McQuade general Manager (commercial) at Portland Port said: “We are delighted to welcome JuiSea Shipping to Portland. These shipments add another product to the port’s cargo mix.

“We have worked closely with both Refresco and Trilobes on this project for a number of years and it is very satisfying to now see the operation up and running.

“We look forward to a long and successful relationship with JuiSea Shipping and will continue to explore the opportunity for further liquid bulk operations in the future.”

JuiSea Shipping - part of the North Sea Port company - is a collaboration of Refresco and Trilobes. The Refresco Group is the largest bottler of soft drinks and fruit juices in the world, and Trilobes specialises in ship cargo systems for liquid bulk.

North Sea Port is the 60-kilometre-long cross-border port area that stretches from Vlissingen on the North Sea coast in the Netherlands, some 32 kilometres inland to Ghent in Belgium.

In 2021 the UK was the fourth most important trading partner for North Sea Port.