Barcelona and its port stand out on the global map of maritime communications and sea trade. With advances such as the authorization of MSC's entry into the BEST terminal and steps forward in the sustainability of the infrastructure, the Port of Barcelona continues to add innovations and new developments that position it internationally. In this journey, it also incorporates new players, such as the shipping company SeaLead, which has opened its first office in Barcelona not only at a national but also at a European level.
The shipping company, founded in 2017 in Singapore with a global outlook, has opened this first office in Europe under the direction of Albert Oñate, a veteran of the sector with more than four decades of experience at the helm of shipping companies such as China Shipping and Cosco Shipping Spain: "Spain is a strategic market for the present and future of SeaLead," according to Oñate.
"The creation of a local entity in Barcelona will allow us to strengthen our presence in Europe and the Mediterranean, improve connectivity and provide a closer service to manufacturers, importers, exporters and logistics partners," highlighted Oñate, who sees Spain's weight in European maritime trade as unquestionable.
"Barcelona, in particular, is a gateway to the Mediterranean and to markets as diverse as Asia, North America or Africa," Oñate defended. In this sense, "for SeaLead, settling here was a strategic decision." In this context, SeaLead's office in Barcelona will be responsible for managing cargo flows between Spain and its global destinations.
SeaLead offers container shipping, regular line services, land transport and customized solutions, with a network covering more than 51 locations. Now, the Barcelona office joins a set of offices that the shipping company has located in the United States, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, India, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Morocco, South Korea, Japan, Tunisia.
The Barcelona office has started with a small team that will progressively grow to reach 15 employees by the end of 2025. In addition, the company will complement its operations with local partners, especially in areas such as land transport or port services, as highlighted by the shipping company's executive, who does not rule out opening more offices in Spain.
Despite the office having recently been established in Barcelona, the shipping company has been providing services in Spain since autumn 2024, when it launched a regular service connecting Barcelona and Valencia with Turkey and Morocco. Now, its stable arrival in the city through the new office generates new internationalization opportunities for companies.
"We want to be a strategic partner for Spanish companies looking to grow beyond Europe," claims Oñate. In this way, SeaLead's office reinforces the role of the Catalan capital as a Mediterranean logistics hub, boosting connectivity between the Mediterranean and the world's major markets.
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