The UK's P&O Ferries has chartered in a Dutch boxship for a new freight run to Zeebrugge.

Holwerda Shipmanagement's 658-teu Elisabeth (built 2000) will start the service from Hull on 3 May, it said.

The vessel will make three round-trips per week to complement the existing combined tourist and freight service between Hull and the Belgian port.

The two ships already serving the route underwent an £8.5m