Bell Pottinger has won a three year contract from the European Commission to help promote ‘short sea shipping’ around Europe.
The consultancy will help an international consortium of shipping experts encourage more freight to be moved along Europe’s network of rivers and sea routes instead of on congested roads and rail network.
The project, known as PROPS, will run for 36 months with Bell Pottinger also involved in running a series of marketing workshops across Europe.
It is the first time the EU has agreed to fund a professional communications consultancy’s involvement in such a shipping project.
Bell Pottinger’s role is first to analyse the existing ways in which short sea shipping is promoted to the maritime and freight industry.
Then it will work with its partners to develop core messages for moving freight by sea instead of road and rail, then develop tools for EU member states to promote the messages.
Stratos Papadimitriou, Coordinator of PROPS and Associate Professor of
Transportation Systems Planning at the University of Piraeus, in Athens, Greece, said:
“We knew from the start of the bidding process for this project that we needed a communications consultancy which could handle the varied international aspects and Bell Pottinger Business & Brand was at the top of our list.
“Short sea shipping is under-used by freight-movers in Europe but can play an enormous role in relieving congestion across the continent’s road and rail network, whilst offering a cheaper and greener transport solution.”
Kevin Read, managing director of Bell Pottinger Business & Brand, said: “This is a very exciting project and our team is looking forward to promoting short sea shipping more vigorously to the freight industry and its wider stakeholders.
“With all the turbulence in the international economy at the moment, short sea shipping provides a cost-effective and more sustainable option than many other transport forms.”
The Bell Pottinger team consists of managing director Kevin Read, associate directors Neil Cameron and Adam Powell, and account executive John Thompson.
ENDS
For more information please contact Kevin Read at Bell Pottinger Business & Brand at kread@bell-pottinger.co.uk/ 0207 861 2506.
Notes to editors:
1. PROPS stands for Promotional Platform for Short Sea Shipping and Intermodality. Its website is http://www.props-sss.eu/
2. Consortium members include: Nautical Enterprise Centre LTD, Ireland; the University of Turku, Finland; the Global Policy Institute, London; the International Business Group Ltd (Shortsea Promotion Centre), Bulgaria; Port Authority of Gijon, Spain; INLECOM Systems, UK; Norsk Marinteknisk Forskningsinstitutt AS, Norway; Bell Pottinger Business & Brand, UK; TIS.pt Consulatores Em Transportes, Portugal; University of Piraeus, Greece; K-Net SA, Greece; Elasg Datamat S.p.A, Italy; Senator fur Wirtschaft und Haefen, Bundesland, Bremen, Germany; Compania Trasmediterranea S.A, Spain; Irish Exporters Association, Ireland.
