PORTLAND — A new office is being created in Maine that will focus on boosting trade efforts in the North Atlantic, the Maine International Trade Center announced Friday.

The Maine North Atlantic Development Office housed at the group’s Portland headquarters will coordinate business opportunities with the region and plan trade missions to Iceland and Northern Europe next year, the group said.

The creation of the new office demonstrates the state’s desire to take advantage of new business opportunities created by Icelandic shipping company Eimskip’s decision to sign a 10-year lease on a waterfront freight terminal in Portland in February and to make the city its primary East Coast port of call.

The new facility connects Portland directly to an increasing number of trade and business opportunities in Iceland and Northern European territories, the group said.

“We are shipping more diverse products in and out of Maine than ever before and this is primarily due to the arrival of Eimskip and commitment it has made here,” MITC President Janine Cary said in a statement. “We see this as a key opportunity to grow Maine’s economy through exports and imports, as well as developing Maine as a distribution hub for both Icelandic and Northern European goods.”