SCANDINAVIA\\\


Scandinavia is one of intermodal and short sea operator Samskip’s most important regions, says senior


general manager


Scandinavia trade, Caesar Luikenaar. For example, it offers a variety of services from Europe, including sea services to Norway’s main population and consumption area, the Oslo Fjord, and to the more remote west coast. There are rail imports into Norway via Gothenburg in Sweden, principally more urgent cargo or which needs curtain- side trailer or mega-cube trailer equipment. There are also rail services


from Duisburg to Sweden. The latter is a 90% rail market, says Luikenaar, although paper exports move by sea. To


Denmark there are


currently weekly sea services used for transshipment cargo, but shortly to be supplemented by regular rail services too. Currently a daily Duisburg – Copenhagen shuttle has started and soon a service to Taulov in eastern Jutland will be added too. The Scandinavian market has


been doing pretty well lately, says Luikenaar. It never plunged to


the depths experienced


by the Eurozone during the Great Recession and has been performing steadily since then. “Norway imports a lot of consumer goods and North Sea oil, gas and fish have been doing


Issue 8 2014 - Freight Business Journal All modes to all places


well,” Luikenaar explains. “The country has done well out of fish quotas this year and also exports a lot of mackerel to Japan. The mackerel harvest has been good this year and has also come at just the right time.” There could though be


some question-marks over the Norwegian economy in coming months; international oil prices have fallen, which could blunt the country’s export earnings somewhat. Sweden’s economy has had


rather more mixed fortunes lately. “Exports have been struggling a bit, because of exchange rates while demand for traditional forest products like newsprint is in long-term decline,” Luikenaar states – although there has been a surge in demand for other forest products, notably packaging and hygiene products like nappies and sanitary towels. “One of Sweden’s main trading partners is Germany and we are positioned well on this trade lane.” Samskip is a leading player on


the UK/Scandinavian markets. “It’s a nicely balanced trade, in my view,” Luikenaar says. Even before the current boom in exports of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) from the UK, the traffic in unitised goods was reasonably two-way, with a good mix of food, machinery and consumer goods coming out of the UK. Now that there are substantial volumes of


Model with a message


Samskip Multimodal presented a model of its 803teu Endeavour to Norwegian Minister of Transport, Ketil Solvik-Olsen in early November to signal its continuing commitment to shortsea services. The carrier joined the Port of Oslo and the Norwegian Port Association in presenting the model on behalf of the shipping industry, to highlight short sea’s


contribution to policy aims, and in light of its absence from the Government’s 2015 agenda. With new sulphur emission


regulations effective from January 2015 and the Norwegian Government committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the parties stressed the need for leadership to avoid cargo moving back to road.


RDF moving to Scandinavia, the trade is in fact more in danger of overbalancing in favour of exports from the UK. Samskip may not have a direct


service between the UK and Scandinavia – transhipping via the continent from shortsea to either other vessels or to rail – but it does have the advantage of daily departures. It handles


the traffic using a wide range of containers. Samskip was one of the pioneers of high-cube 45ſt long, pallet wide units and some of the earlier examples are now being replaced, including those inherited when it took over Geest North Sea Line. There are also a number of specialised types in the fleet including curtainsiders, flat racks and reefers.


Samskip, like all other shortsea


operators, will be affected by the new maritime Emission Control Area from January 2015, and is currently pondering the options. In the immediate future, its owned and chartered fleet will switch to more expensive marine diesel when in the ECA – long lengths of its routes, for example to Iceland lie outside it – but in the longer term it will consider fitting scrubbers or switching to new fuels such as HDME (Heavy Distillate Marine Emission


29


Control Area). “With scrubbers, we need to see if the cost will come down and also whether the technology will do what it is supposed to do,” Luikenaar explains. The increased cost of shipping


partly explains Samskip’s greater emphasis on rail services to Denmark. The increased cost of marine fuel will undoubtedly shiſt the cost equation in favour of rail, not only to Denmark but also to some regions of Sweden, especially the east and north.


From leſt to right: Director of the Port of Oslo - Anne Sigrid Hamran; Director, Norwegian Port Association - Arnt-Einar Litscheim; country manager Samskip – Bjorn Waglen; and Minister of Transport - Ketil Solvik-Olsen.


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