During the coming week, Sweden will be hosting the UN Ocean Conference in New York. Global emissions from shipping will be high on the agenda. Gothenburg Port Authority Environmental Manager Edvard Molitor will be presenting recent advances in Swedish environmental technology.
The cruise season in Gothenburg will get under way over the Easter weekend. During the next few months, 60,000 tourists are expected to arrive by cruise ship to discover the sights of the city. There will 44 visits by cruise ships to the Port of Gothenburg this year. First to arrive will be Aida Cara, which is due to berth at Frihamnen on Good Friday.
The Port of Gothenburg has embarked on a major project that will involve replanting 1.7 hectares of vital eelgrass meadows that will disappear with the building of a new terminal as part of the Port’s expansion programme.
Over 100 years ago, the first Swedish American Line vessel sailed for the USA from Stigbergskajen in Gothenburg. This historic quay is now being resurrected as a cruise reception centre under the name America Cruise Terminal. “Gothenburg has developed considerably as a maritime city,” said Jill Söderwall, Vice President Cruise at Gothenburg Port Authority.
Freight volumes at the Port of Gothenburg rose by almost three million tonnes in 2016 - up from 38.2 million tonnes in 2015 to 40.9 million tonnes last year. Car exports-imports and energy products enjoyed a particularly successful year with rises of 15 and 12 per cent respectively. Container volumes were down three per cent. The freight figures for 2016 have just been released.
Last year, one in three ships at the Port of Gothenburg received an environmental discount on the port charges. This represents an increase of 83 per cent on the previous year. Heading the discount list are Donsö-based shipping companies Tärntank Ship Management AB and Furetank AB, whose vessels are powered by liquefied natural gas.
Belgium is Sweden’s eighth largest export market. The Swedish shipping company SOL is about to expand its departure frequency between the Port of Gothenburg and the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. The change will offer greater scope for Swedish import and export companies to ship freight to and from Belgium.
The opening of a new freight service to Rotterdam will be a welcome development, presenting further opportunities for Swedish industry. The company behind the new service is the ro-ro* carrier CLdN, whose vessels will call at the Port of Gothenburg twice a week.
Plans are in place to move the internmodal freight terminal currently located in the central city of Gothenburg to the Port of Gothenburg. The switch will allow a higher proportion of transport by rail instead of road.
Logent will be the first tenant in the Prologis section of Gothenburg Logistics Park. They are due to move into the 25,500 square metre building in March next year.
Gothenburg is the pre-eminent location for a distribution centre in Scandinavia, particularly for import companies with large volumes passing through the Port of Gothenburg. This was revealed in a new study published by the consultancy company SWECO.
Tomorrow, a milestone will be reached in the greening process that is taking place at the Port of Gothenburg. M/T Ternsund will bunker natural gas at the entrance to the port. This is the first time ever in Sweden that a tanker will bunker this substantially cleaner marine fuel.