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SWEDEN/DENMARK: PORT DEVELOPMENT
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Gothenburg reviews its strategic options
As containerisation grew and it
became the accepted policy that
deep sea container ships would
turn around at Hamburg/
Bremerhaven, most Baltic ports
resigned themselves to the rôle of
feeder status with domestic cargoes
no longer shipped direct.
Indeed, the two major northern
European feeder operators,
Unifeeder and Team Lines, were
established to service Baltic cargo
flows and have continued to grow
- Team Lines is now owned by
Finnlines while Unifeeder maintains
its Danish ownership.
Norway’s capital city port,
Oslo, “accepted the inevitable”
and downgraded its container flow
forecasts. It now appears intent on
removing this activity completely
from its port boundaries. Helsinki
welcomed feeder traffic, with regional
ports servicing the paper
industries by ro-ro.
Stockholm and Copenhagen
looked to distance themselves
from commercial container traffic
and instead exploit waterside
development potential as well as
cruise and passenger ferry traffic,
as Helsinki has also done.
Many ports in the Nordic region
appear to prefer real estate
development to port activities,
despite the presence of a concentrated
hinterland in otherwise
sparsely populated countries.
Gothenburg, however, has taken
Sweden’s main load centre has
come up with new ways to extend
its influence in the Baltic area
Maersk Sealand’s GUDRUN MAERSK, here shown being loaded for the first time
at the Port of Gothenburg’s Skandia terminal
a different stance to maintain its
deepsea business aspirations,
alongside feeder traffic.
Not easy
This has proved to be a difficult
task. ACL has stayed with the port
as it had a wider cargo base in
terms of wheeled traffic and machinery.
Evergreen, on the other
hand, tried direct calls but found
the cargo generated did not justify
the deviation and it returned
to feeding to/from Hamburg.
However, according to some
analysts, there is now a shortage
of feeder vessels as pressure on
feeder rates is making longer term
newbuilding investment difficult
to justify. Additionally, new work-
Gottwald Port Technology
ing hour directives may require
additional crewing, particularly to
cover the Elbe/Kiel Canal passage,
which will push up costs against
the same revenue base.
At the same time, the order
boom in main line ships, particularly
post-panamax vessels, as capacity
increases rather than replacement
tonnage, could result in
more ships to service other European
ports outside the Le Havre-
Hamburg range in a “trickle
through” effect.
Blue is the colour
Maersk found better market conditions
than Evergreen for direct
calls, possibly due to its
Scandinavian origins, but more
directly, to its take-over of Sealand.
This US carrier was a pioneer
in Gothenburg (although it later
switched to nearby Wallhamn due
to labour disputes and cost issue)
and developed a strong local customer
following in Scandinavia.
So did Sweden’s East Asiatic,
which Maersk also absorbed.
Doubling up for NETSS
To support growing SECU traffic
as StoraEnso’s system is enlarged
to cover Finland, using
Gothenburg as the consolidation
base, the Port of Gothenburg is
constructing another linkspan at
the StoraEnso terminal.
ºUnlike the original 2-tier
ramp, the new linkspan, to be
supplied by TTS, will be a single
level ramp. It will be hinged
at the shoreside and raised and
lowered by means of hydraulic
cylinders at the seaward side.
The 14.5m long by 24m
Our Experience – Your Advantage
Smits Spreaders Systems
The Danish group’s high profile
in Sweden will be further
strengthened by its takeover of
P&O Nedlloyd, which has traditionally
been very strong in Scandinavia,
both in container traffic
and short sea ro-ro.
Encouraged by Maersk’s presence,
the port owner and operator
(Göteborgs Hamn AB) took
the decision was taken to order
two Noell post-panamax cranes,
even though it was considered a
risky move. This investment has
evidently proved its worth.
The port has now ordered
three superpost-panamax cranes
covering a 23-wide deck span for
wide ramp will cater for three
lanes simultaneously. It will
mainly be used to discharge the
three 13,800 dwt B&N ro-ros
(in build) on the forthcoming
north Finland-Gothenburg
shuttle, as well as load SECUs
into the DFDS Tor Line ro-ro
ships headed for Tilbury.
The ramp, positioned at
berth 702 alongside the original
ramp at berth 700, is aligned
parallel to the quay. Handling
can be carried on at both ramps
simultaneously. ❏
B&W Bulk Handling
Sino-Danish “superport”
Plot A/S, a Danish architectural
consultancy company, is working
on an offshore port project for the
Gulf of Tongking area, as the entry
point to China’s Guangxi
province and the northeast cornerstone
in South east Asia.
The Danish project team is led
by Bjarke Ingels and Julien de
Smedt and its Chinese partner is
the Guangxi Institute of Architecture
Design and Research. The
proposed Red Star Harbour
would occupy 680-ha. Project cost
has been estimated at €1 bill.
Plot has previously proposed
a similar, star-shaped harbour
project for Denmark. This
“superharbour,” located along the
planned Rødby-Puttgarden
bridge, would be the new Baltic
gate. Gradually it would be able
to absorb all Danish harbour activities
and, it was claimed, free up
€20 bill worth of prime, waterfront
space in the existing ports
for residential use. This value was
said to exceed the entire cost of
the new multi-cargo port, so it was
economically good for Denmark.
Its container capacity would be
able to exceed that of Rotterdam.
Plot has been involved in a
number of projects in various
spheres in Denmark, Sweden,
Holland and Korea. However, the
star harbour concept is easily its
most ambitious to date. ❏
Your Partner in Scandinavia
MRS Greifer
E-Crane
Also for Used Equipment
Good results for ADP
Associated Danish Ports A/S
(ADP) reports that revenues rose
by five per cent in the first half of
2005, from DKK42.3 mill in the
first half of 2004 to DK 44.4 mill.
ADP reports a high level of
activity at its three ports (Fredericia,
Nyborg and Middelfart),
with the total volume of cargo
handled increasing by just over
four per cent relative to the first
half of 2004. Despite the lack of
raw material tonnage for Kemira
GrowHow A/S, which closed
down its fertiliser production in
2004, “we have created growth
and attracted new customer activities,”
explains ADP’s managing
director Jens Peter Peters.
Liquid bulk throughput rose
by six per cent, attributed to the
large volume of crude oil shipped
in April and May. Dry bulk volumes
tend to fluctuate more.
There is still a shortfall in grain
shipments, but ADP retained its
importance for shipping animal
feedstuffs. Shipments of stone, sand
and gravel doubled, while general
cargo throughput was up by more
than 20 per cent.
Fredericia saw an increase of
just under five per cent overall,
while cargo volumes increased by
more than 17 per cent in Nyborg.
This growth occurred exclusively
at the Lindholm terminal and is
attributable to new agreements
which have been made concerning
the use of the port for shipments
of broken stone for the
whole of Funen.
Nyborg was chosen, says ADP,
on account of its water depth, the
many free areas and its proximity
to the rest of the infrastructure.
Middelfart has also been used for
the shipment of considerable volumes
of broken stone. Steel volumes
in Nyborg were constant,
whereas the influx of liquid products
to Avernakke was less than in
the same period last year.
The outlook for the second
half of 2005 is positive, says ADP.
Recent months have seen the
conclusion of several new agreements,
which will result in further
increases in cargo volumes. For
2005 as a whole, says Peters, ADP
expects a profit before financial
items of at least DKK20 mill.
Owning and operating the
ports in Fredericia, Nyborg and
Middelfart, ADP handles more
than 17 mill tonnes of cargo a year
and is the largest port system located
within Denmark. ❏
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www.densit.com
www.port-trade.com Tel.: +45 7628 0102
Reference: Copenhagen Port, Denmark
September 2005 29