Map news

UECC’s latest hybrid gas-run car carrier has berthed at the Port of Gothenburg, where she received her name and joined the weekly service that links the Swedish seaport with Zeebrugge, Drammen and Esbjerg. The 169 by 28 m ship can carry up to 3,580 vehicles across ten decks. Auto Achieve joins her sister ships, Auto Advance and Auto Aspire, constructed by Jiangnan Shipyard and christened in Zeebrugge in October 2022. The company says that the trio exceeds the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) requirement for a 40% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030. “With new IMO carbon intensity regulations just around the corner and the looming prospect of higher costs for using conventional marine fuel, we are convinced that our timely investments in these newbuilds will make a real difference for the environment and for business. That is called sustainability progress,” Glenn Edvardsen, UECC’s CEO, commented.

Photo: Port of Gothenburg

LTG Cargo tests a new north-south rail corridor

The Lithuanian rail freight haulier is trialling the feasibility of connecting the country with northern Italy via Duisburg. The test run saw trailers sent from Kaunas to Cervignano near Trieste through the German dry port. Once regular, the service will run twice a week.

Color Line’s two vessels on sale

The Norwegian shipping line removed the Color Viking ferry from the Sandefjord-Strömstad service and the Color Carrier ro-ro from the Kiel-Oslo one, putting them up for sale. The company says that high energy prices, macroeconomic uncertainty, and worsened framework conditions had led to the decision. Color Line adds that other factors came into play, too: halving the tobacco quota for residents of Norway as well as reducing the allowance scheme for Norwegian seafarers in the country’s budget for 2023. Color Carrier embarked on her last journey in Color Line’s livery on 14 November 2022, while Color Viking – six days later. The Color Hybrid ferry continues to serve the Sandefjord-Strömstad crossing.

Viking Line buys into Eckerö

The Ålandic company has purchased 17.1% of shares, for nearly €10.3m, of the Finnish holding also located in Mariehamn on the Åland Islands. Viking Line has carried out the transaction with its own funds. Commenting to Ålands Sjöfart, Viking Line’s CEO Jan Hanses did not reveal whether the two companies will merge. He underlined that the share buy was done to keep Eckerö’s stock on Åland. The Eckerö Group comprises a few shipping lines that operate in the Baltic, including the Helsinki-Tallinn, Vuosaari-Muuga, and Eckerö-Grissleham ro-pax services. The Group’s Eckerö Shipping disposes of a fleet of three ro-ros. Eckerö also holds the Birka Cruises brand, the operations of which were terminated in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic (the company’s Birka Stockholm has been laid up since that time and is up for sale).

Thor Svecon Group (TSG) chartered the 1995-built, 133 by 19 m, 660 TEUs capacity Perseus, which the company deployed on the NorvikRotterdam-Hull service on 8 November 2022. “We have seen the need for a fourth vessel for some time, and now that time has come. Starting from Sweden’s newest port, Stockholm/Norvik, feels like a natural step and completely in line with our goal to strengthen our position in east coast shipping,” Eric Hjalmarsson, TSG’s CEO, said. Lawrence Yam, Hutchison Ports Stockholm’s CEO, added, “The extended connectivity from Stockholm/Norvik to Rotterdam is going to provide our customer more options and even more flexible and faster transit to the major hub port in Europe. A direct linkage to Rotterdam would enable connectivity to new services and to different parts of the world. We are very happy to see that SUN Line [TSG’s brand] is seeing the benefits of starting up a new service that will give their customers the fastest transit to the Greater Stockholm Area.” TSG also runs the Mälar-Benelux & Hull network, connecting the ports of Västerås, Södertälje, Oxelösund, Antwerp, Hull, and Amsterdam. Three vessels serve it: Alrek (360 TEUs), Frej (304), and Odin (304).

Photo: Oost Atlantic Lijn

New intra-Germany intermodal service

Hector Rail and Samskip have launched the thrice-a-week Duisburg-Rostock connection for containers and trailers (including non-cranable). The 700 m long trains link Duisburg Hohenbudberg and Rostock Trimodal. Arrivals at the latter are synchronised with Hansa Destinations’ ro-ro service between the German seaport and the Swedish Nynäshamn. “There has been a clear need to increase capacity between Germany and Scandinavia based on growing trade volumes and new requests, but high diesel prices and continuing driver shortages are also steering more cargo away from the road,” Gert-Jan Meijer, Head of Trade, Sweden, Samskip, said. He furthered, “Offering an additional Photo: Euroports Germany high-frequency service option consolidates the competitive edge that multimodal has over road haulage in terms of reliability in the supply chain.” Meijer also underlined, “Our larger customers want to do more using lower carbon options, new customers are knocking on the door, and it’s fair to say that there is a general mood in Germany that now is the time to switch away from roads.”

New sea container service between the Baltic and North seas

Containerships has launched a weekly loop that links the ports of Bremerhaven, Gdynia, Gävle, Klaipėda, and Wilhelmshaven. The new service will also take care of 45’ containers. From Gävle, Containerships offers intra-Sweden haulage by road and rail.