It's been a long time coming.
Because when less stringent low-sulphur fuel restrictions came into for four
years ago, Gothenburg had a plan in place.
Gothenberg's vital commodity is
lumber to feed Ikea's main factory. The lumber comes in from the north Baltic
by ship around the tip of Sweden to the country's main port on the Atlantic,
and once processed, is shipped out to the world from there.
The plan anticipated the shift from
sea to the under-utilised railway between the northern timber stands and
sawmills because the then cost of bunker - US$60 a ton versus $100 for the low
sulphur blend - would make it uneconomical for ships to face a deadhead voyage
to the upper reaches of the Baltic only to return with a low-value sawn lumber
on a long short-sea voyage to the other side to Sweden.
But then came the big surprise. No
sooner did the low-sulphur rule come in, than the bottom fell out of the world
oil market and the more expensive low-sulphur fuel was about as expensive as
the cheaper standard bunker had been. Thus, Baltic shipping stayed more or less
as it had been - until recently.
Claes Sundmark, the Gothenburg Port Authority box and
ro-ro chief, who told the Hong Kong
Shipping Gazette about the scheme on a visit four years ago, was content to
say.
"The fact that long-distance
freight transport is recovering at a higher rate is a clear indication of the
growing confidence in the Container Terminal throughout the country," he
said reported St Petersburg PortNews.
During the past year, rail-borne
container volumes to and from Gothenburg rose by 13 per cent. Volume growth
intensified during the year and was strongest during the final quarter with an
increase of 27 per cent.
The freight often needs to be
switched to containers at one of the three transloading terminals at the Port
of Gothenburg, all of which are located close to the Container Terminal.
Source : HKSG / Photo : Port of Gotheburg.
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