Foreland Shipping

Foreland Shipping Limited was formed by leading British shipping names Bibby Line, Houlder Hadley, James Fisher Plc and Andrew Weir Shipping. The company was established with the express purpose of bidding for the £950 million contract to construct and own six 20,000-tonne ro-ro vessels for service with the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD). Foreland Shipping was subsequently awarded the MoD contract and delivery of the six ships, built at German and British shipyards, was recently completed, ahead of schedule.


The MoD has agreed a structure with Foreland Shipping under the Private Finance Initiative to allow the company to employ some of the ships in the commercial market whilst ensuring that they are available to the MoD in times of crisis. The remaining ships cover the MoD's normal tasking requirements moving equipment to enable the MoD to meet its normal ongoing obligations. All of the ships are registered in UK and crewed by a British crew who are members of the Sponsored Reserves.


Foreland Shipping has allowed the MoD to realise its belief that strategic sealift is the key to moving vehicles and equipment into a theatre of operations quickly and efficiently. The new service is a huge advance on the strategic transport capabilities formerly possessed by the MoD, not least due to the expertise enshrined in the Foreland Shipping structure.

For more information about Foreland Shipping, contact davidcheslin@dunelmpr.co.uk