THE Port of Tilbury has struck a deal with Finnlines which will see a new roll-on/roll-off service dock at the port once a week.

The new "ro-ro" service, which began operating in August, will be a weekly service calling each Thursday in Essex and calling at Helsinki in Finland and St Petersburg in Russia, delivering paper and general cargo.

The service sees a return to Tilbury for Finnlines who had previously operated a ro-ro service at the Port until the end of 2006.

Paul Dale, Senior Asset Manager at the Port of Tilbury, said: "We are delighted to welcome Finnlines back to Tilbury. As the largest paper handling port in the UK, Finnlines will benefit from Tilbury’s expertise and connectivity in the South east. We look forward to working with Finnlines to deliver an excellent service for their customer."

Brian Rolfe, Managing Director of Finnlines UK said: "The new weekly connection to/from Tilbury to Helsinki and further to St Petersburg strenghens our position in the South of England and we have received positive feedback from our customers for adding a Southern port to our schedule."