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Samskip rejigs north Norway service
[ September 28, 2018 // Chris ]Samskip is restructuring its multi-purpose cargo and reefer services connecting North Sea and Baltic ports to Norway operated by subsidiary Nor Lines.
The multimodal operator says it will meet rising demand for reefer and project cargo services southbound and increase capacity for conventional and project cargoes northbound along the Norwegian coast and beyond to Murmansk.
Two existing multi-purpose service loops increase to three with the three-ship Nor Lines service between Baltic ports and Norway expanded to four vessels, each with reefer/palletized and deck space, and 50mt heavylift crane capacity. However, the combined service will be split, with two vessel pairs operating separate schedules.
One pair will connect northern Norway with German and Dutch ports, focusing on frozen fish/project cargoes southbound and palletized/project cargoes northbound. The aim is to offer port combination flexibility, creating a direct link between northern Norway, Murmansk and Archangelsk in Russia from Germany and the Netherlands.
The other ship pair will serve Danish and Polish ports, connecting with Western Norway in the Fredrikstad-Tromsø range, calling weekly northbound and prioritizing southbound calls for reefer/project cargo volumes.
Meanwhile, the separate Nor Lines’ multipurpose liner service connecting the Netherlands to Western, Mid and Northern Norway weekly will add a call at Velsen in the Netherlands, a centre for cold cargo storage and distribution and which offers shortsea links to the UK and Portugal.
The Nor Lines Netherlands-Norway multipurpose liner service is maintained by two LNG-powered vessels, each offering 1,500 lane metres of ro ro capacity, 122teu of container space, 1,500 tons of reefer space and heavylift crane capability.
Samskip trade director Norway, Caesar Luikenaar, said: “Taken together, this revised service structure adds significant capacity and flexibility for those doing business in Norway, strengthening Nor Lines’ in the dry and project cargo, seafood and palletized segments,” says
He emphasised that the service upgrades were in addition to Samskip’s three-times weekly container liner services connecting Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Norway.