Shortsea shipping operator Ellerman City Liners has revised its iPEX 2 UK–Poland service, introducing a new Szczecin–Hull–Szczecin rotation aimed at improving transit efficiency and inland connectivity between the two markets.
The updated service replaces previous calls at Gdynia and Teesport, with Hull emerging as the new UK gateway for the route. According to reports from World Cargo News
, the revised network will now provide two direct weekly sailings from Poland to the UK.
By shifting the Polish call from Gdynia to Szczecin, the company expects to shorten the voyage distance by approximately 125 nautical miles while enhancing access to industrial and manufacturing clusters in northwestern Poland.
On the UK side, Hull was selected due to its strategic proximity to key logistics and distribution centres across northern England and the Midlands, including Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham. The change is expected to reduce inland trucking distances, lower transport costs and improve overall supply chain efficiency for shippers.
Peter Andrews, Commercial Director of Ellerman City Liners, said the Hull connection would strengthen access to major UK cargo corridors while also supporting more reliable schedules and wider European connectivity through transshipment links into Portugal.
The first sailing under the revised service departed Szczecin on 9 May and arrived in Hull on 14 May. The company added that operations through less-congested terminals would support schedule integrity and stable weekly capacity, while also delivering significant CO₂ emission reductions compared with road transport alternatives.